University Health Services Welcomes New Clinicians

University Health Services (UHS) at UMass Amherst welcomes four medical providers to its team of college health experts. Staff physician Margit Walker, D.O., and certified physician assistants Jaimie Colica-Ekness, M.S.W., M.S.H., P.A.-C., Kate Dempsey, M.S.P.A., M. Ed., P.A.-C., and Finn Olcott, M.S., P.A.-C., are providing care in the health center’s acute care, general medicine and respiratory clinics.

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Walker comes to UHS from Valley Medical Group in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Board certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians, she has served as medical director for the Bement School in Deerfield, Massachusetts and Camp Emerson in Hinsdale, Massachusetts. Previously, she practiced at Westside Family Healthcare in Wilmington, Delaware and Seldovia Village Tribe in Homer, Alaska. Walker received her doctorate from Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; completed a fellowship in integrative medicine at the University of Arizona; and holds a bachelor’s degree in nutrition from UMass Amherst.

Colica-Ekness earned her master of health science degree from Duke University School of Medicine’s physician assistant program in Durham, N.C., and most recently served as a physician assistant with Signify Health in Durham. Prior to P.A. school, she was a clinical social worker at Behavioral Health Network Crisis Services in Springfield, Massachusetts. Colica-Ekness holds a master’s degree in social work from the Smith College School for Social Work in Northampton, Massachusetts, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana. She is certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, and is a member of the Massachusetts Association of Physician Assistants.

A certified physician assistant, Dempsey comes to UHS from Valley Medical Group in Greenfield, Massachusetts, where she served as a family medicine physician assistant. Previously, she worked with HealthReach Community Health Centers in Albion, Maine. She earned her master’s degree in physician asssitant studies from University of New England, Portland, Maine; a master’s degree in education from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, Massachusetts; and a bachelor’s degree from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Dempsey is certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, and holds a certificate in plant-based nutrition from eCornell and T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies.

Olcott joins UHS after serving as a family medicine physician assistant at Valley Medical Group in Greenfield, Mass. He earned his master’s degree in physician assistant studies from the Rutgers University Physician Assistant Program in New Brunswick and Piscataway, New Jersey. Olcott holds a bachelor’s degree from Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, and studied Comparative Ecology and Conservation at the School for International Training in Ecuador. He is certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. Previous experience includes serving as Research Station Manager with the Guppy Project, Trinidad and Tobago.

UHS is UMass Amherst’s fully accredited campus health center, offering comprehensive care and referral services for students, faculty and staff. For more information, visit https://www.umass.edu/uhs or call (413) 577-5000.