Meet Our Alums - Dr. Jasmin Jenkins: "Try Something New, Even If It Scares You"
Published June 20, 2025
By Darlene Muguiro
UTEP College of Health Sciences
Dr. Jasmin Jenkins’ UTEP story started out very differently than the majority of students – with an Army transfer to Ft. Bliss, Texas. As a military child, Dr. Jenkins traveled to and from Germany, as well as multiple stations throughout the United States, prior to her father’s reassignment and the family’s permanent move to El Paso.
“My dad told me that if I was accepted into an early college high school program in El Paso, he would put in his retirement orders so that I could stay here and finish my education,” she said.
Dr. Jenkins took the deal and was accepted into Mission Early College High School, where she found her first love – mathematics. That changed when she began receiving physical therapy, and she quickly switched gears to focus on a healthcare career. After graduating with her associate’s degree from El Paso Community College in her junior year of high school, she began taking classes on the UTEP campus while simultaneously completing her high school diploma. She majored in kinesiology, ultimately hoping to complete her doctor of physical therapy degree at the U.S. Army-Baylor School of Physical Therapy. She graduated in December 2016 with her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology.
During her preparation for PT school – completing her prerequisite laboratory courses and shadowing hours – Dr. Jenkins quickly realized that she enjoyed clinical work more, and that PT was probably not the best choice for her. She made the decision to continue her education with a master’s degree in kinesiology, and was awarded a teaching assistantship to support her during the time she was in the program. She says the decision to continue was largely inspired by the supportive faculty as well as the research culture within the department.
“The faculty brought so much joy to the classroom that it really made me want to stay and be a part of that,” she said. “But the tipping point was being part of a research study for a 12-week sprint program conducted by another master’s student. I really enjoyed it and wanted to see it from the other side, as a researcher.”
During her time as a master’s student, Dr. Jenkins served as a lab member for the MiNER Laboratory, and recalls having been offered an opportunity by lab director Dr. Sudip Bajpeyi to attend the prestigious American College of Sports Medicine conference early in her degree, despite not having had an abstract to present. She pinpoints this as one example of faculty going above and beyond to support students’ curiosity and potential. Dr. Jenkins also worked with HEPL (the Human and Environmental Physiology Lab), where she was exposed to the clinical side of physiology and expanded her research experience to include studies for the military.
“We did some things for NASA as well as some basic exercise physiology studies. I also began looking at what I could do for the military with a physiology degree, and I found the Naval Aerospace and Operational Physiology (NAOP) program,” she said. “But I found that I didn’t yet meet the requirements, so I decided to continue my education and pursue a doctoral degree in the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program.”
Just a few months after defending her thesis in May 2020, Dr. Jenkins entered the IHS PhD Program and continued her work with HEPL, with a renewed focus on military research. Shortly before defending her dissertation, she interviewed with NAOP and was accepted. She recently completed a five-week training program at the Navy Officer Development School and moved to Pensacola, Florida to begin the Naval Aerospace and Operational Physiologist training course, the last major step she’ll take before beginning her career as a physiologist. She says that the support of other women in the Navy has been extremely important during this critical training period.
“I made it a point to talk to as many women as possible in the Navy, and in my job, in particular. Every single one of them have been super supportive, and I hope to continue that myself,” she said. “In fact, my recruiter asked me to send her a picture after my graduation to put on a wall that says ‘If you see her, you can be her,’ which is meant to encourage other women to join.”
Reflecting on her seven-year academic journey, through which she earned three degrees as a CHS student, Dr. Jenkins says that the best advice she would give herself if she could go back in time is “take advantage of more opportunities.”
“I would tell myself to throw your name into the hat more often and try something new, even if it scares you, because all of the hard work really pays off,” she said. “Also, to really use your network. UTEP faculty can help you get to where you need to go.”
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Go Miners!
Photo courtesy of Dr. Jasmin Jenkins
