Deshae Gehr

Deshae Gehr, MD (She/Her)

  • About Me

    I grew up on the Front Range of Colorado dabbling in many of those stereotypical Colorado activities and playing soccer, though I’d say it was really my friends and networks in college that expanded my outdoors horizon! I attended the University of Denver where I completed degrees in Biology and Economics, merging a variety of interests to explore complex topics like health equity, resource allocation, and structural determinants of health. I later pursued an MBA with the goal of tackling pressing health equity issues systemically through better understanding of economic implications. I worked as a strategic program manager and consultant for 5 years before concluding that the footprint I wanted to leave on the world, and the parts of my brain and heart I wanted to tickle, would be best served through a career in medicine. Following the drive that pushed me back to school, I was drawn to EM as a dynamic confluence of clinical medicine, public health and advocacy where I can not only treat patients but also apply systems thinking to process improvement and gain perspective to inform advocacy efforts within the wider healthcare ecosystem.

    Medical Areas of Interest

    Critical care, global health, wilderness/austere medicine, medical education.

    Interests & Hobbies

    Straight from the illustrious ERAS hobbies section: DIY home-improvement, (teaching) skiing, overcommitted costume-making, self-proclaimed board game and yard game connoisseur, mini polaroid photography, and the usual suspects: mountain/dirt biking, (hitch)hiking, travel and exploration, backpacking… (but I do feel compelled to add to this list soccer, pretending my cat is a dog, and really most anything that will get me outdoors)!

    My cat Tangerine

    Why Utah?

    I can give a long list of practical reasons why Utah is a perfect fit for me: a variety of clinical practice settings including a mix of academic, community and critical access, the availability of fellowships in areas of interest, unfettered access to that sweet sweet outdoors, large catchment area, reputable program and faculty, and perfect residency size (to name just a few). But as great and important as all these things are for me, what made Utah the clear number one was how genuinely happy the residents seemed throughout the interview process and at my second look. I knew I wanted to be a part of a community that elevated the highs and lessened the lows of residency, and I was left with no doubt that University of Utah would be just that place. 

    Hometown

    Louisville, Colorado

  • Education history

    Undergraduate University of Denver B.S.
    Graduate Training University of Denver MBA
    Doctoral Training Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine M.D.