Dr. Darron T. Smith is the founding Department Chair at A.T. Still University’s Central Coast Physician Assistant Program (CCPAP). Dr. Smith brings to the University over 20 years of experience as a primary care/mental health physician assistant, scholar and educator. He is a graduate of The Utah Physician Assistant Program (UPAP) at the University of Utah, School of Medicine, one of the oldest PA programs in the country.
Dr. Smith most recently taught at the University of Memphis in the Department of Sociology, focusing on neurosociology, neurobiology and the impact of discrimination (most specifically racism) on the mind and body.
When Dr. Smith is not teaching students and engaged in scholarship he blogs for popular media outlets such as the Huffington Post, providing commentary on current affairs. He has also contributed to various media forums, such as ESPN’s Outside the Lines, and is featured in the CBS Sports Documentary, “The Black 14: Wyoming Football 1969.”
Dr. Smith’s research and publications spans a wide myriad of topics including health care disparities, physiological stress response, Mormon studies, race and sports, transracial adoption and mindfulness. He is the author of When Race, Religion & Sports Collide: Black Athletes at BYU and Beyond released in 2016 by Rowman & Littlefield Press.
In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, riding his motorcycle, training his dogs and avoiding stress.
