Surrounded by current and former colleagues and coworkers, Clay Cothren Burlew, MD, FACS, a professor in the Division of GI, Trauma, and Endocrine Surgery in the University of Colorado Department of Surgery, was honored in October with the 2024 Olga Jonasson Distinguished Member Award at the Association of Women Surgeons Foundation Gala in San Francisco.
The annual award — for which Burlew was nominated by Kristy Hawley, MD, MPH, assistant professor in the Division of GI, Trauma, and Endocrine Surgery — recognizes Burlew’s exceptional contributions to the mentorship of women in surgery, enabling and encouraging women surgeons to realize their personal and professional goals.
We spoke with Burlew — director of CU’s Surgical Critical Care and Trauma and Acute Care Surgery Fellowship programs — about the career that led to the recognition from the Association of Women Surgeons