Dr. Collins grew up in Connecticut in a medical family. Her father was a well-known general surgeon in New Haven, CT, and from her earliest memories, Dr. Collins always knew that she, too, wanted to be a surgeon.

After attending Choate Rosemary Hall, she moved to the South and did her undergraduate degree at Emory University in Georgia. After that, her natural curiosity about travel and her heritage brought her to Dublin, Ireland, where she studied medicine.

She returned to the US for her general surgery residency in North Carolina, then found herself back at Emory University for her plastic and reconstructive surgery fellowship. This was followed by a specialty fellowship in breast shaping and body contouring with world-renowned surgeon Dr. John McCraw, a contender for the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work in reconstructive plastic surgery.