Department of Surgery News and Stories

Each year, since 1987, the President of the United States has issued a proclamation designating the month of March as Women’s History Month. It is significant that the leadership of our country recognizes the importance of reaffirming the historical accomplishments of women with this annual proclamation.

Generations of women have endured hardships, exclusion, and discrimination and despite these challenges have furthered equity and equality in our communities. As a nation, we have made great strides in medicine, technology, social justice, and much more through their unwillingness to surrender their dreams and goals.

We would like to take this time to highlight a few of the great women and their work in the CU Department of Surgery. 

Department of Surgery | March 01, 2023

In the course of her research, Jamie Burke, a student in the University of Colorado School of Medicine, learned that at least 50% of patients surveyed at a safety net breast surgical oncology clinic were uncomfortable interpreting their own medical results.

Rachel Sauer | December 16, 2022

The University of Colorado Department of Surgery recently received accreditation for a new burn surgery fellowship that will allow aspiring burn surgeons to enter the field faster. 

Greg Glasgow | December 07, 2022

It wasn’t his first stroll through a teeming Kathmandu market, his first taste of momos, or even his first view of the Himalayas that weaved a piece of his heart into the fabric of a country 12,000 miles from his Denver home.

Rachel Sauer | October 05, 2022

Camille Stewart, MD, assistant professor of surgical oncology in the University of Colorado School of Medicine, is leading general surgery residents on valuable training with new robotic surgical equipment that is becoming more and more common in the world of medicine. 

Greg Glasgow | July 01, 2022

Before Maurice Musoni, MD, completed his surgical training in South Africa, his home country of Rwanda had no cardiothoracic surgeon.

Rachel Sauer | June 14, 2022

The graduating physicians honored Friday at the University of Colorado Department of Surgery Resident and Fellow Graduation navigated portions of their training during an unprecedented time. The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic significantly altered not only surgery schedules and overall hospital operations, but the landscape of health care.

Rachel Sauer | June 13, 2022

Through analyzing post-operative outcome data for more than 5.5 million patients, Helen Madsen, MD, found that patients who are overweight or obese are at increased risk for post-operative infection, blood clots, and renal complications.

Rachel Sauer | May 25, 2022

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, intensive care unit (ICU) beds were in limited supply, and the pandemic only exacerbated this growing concern. Since the pandemic began, ICU resources have been in such demand that clinicians across the United States and world have struggled to meet the need.

Rachel Sauer | May 24, 2022

It’s not unusual for students to enter medical school with ideas about paths they’d like to pursue in medicine. Those ideas can evolve over time as they delve into course work and clinical rotations, but the initial interests that guided them to medicine in the first place can be significant.

Rachel Sauer | May 20, 2022

The skills that Ryan Gupta, MD, learned during his master of business administration (MBA) studies aren’t necessarily the skills usually associated with vascular surgery: how to understand financial statements, how to conduct market research, how to make difficult decisions about resource allocation.

Rachel Sauer | April 15, 2022

Almost a decade into his medical career, amid the daily traumas of war, Mohammed Al-Musawi, MD, began to love his job.

Rachel Sauer | March 22, 2022

A tool designed to help surgical trainees practice skills such as knot tying, suturing, vascular and bowel anastomoses, and other techniques has helped eliminate barriers to simulation resources.

Rachel Sauer | March 16, 2022

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee in the CU School of Medicine Department of Surgery (DOS) has made great strides over the past year, working toward the department’s goal of becoming the most diverse, equitable, and inclusive department of surgery in the country by 2030.  

Greg Glasgow | March 08, 2022

Emma Lamping, a second-year student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, has received a $5,000 “Emerging Scientist Award” from the Institute of Cannabis Research in Pueblo, Colorado, for her work on a research study comparing postoperative pain medication requirements and surgical outcomes after major abdominal surgery for the treatment of cancer between daily cannabis users and nonusers of cannabis.

Greg Glasgow | January 06, 2022

For the 50 years of his career, Ernest Moore, MD, a distinguished professor of surgery, has been eager to go to work ­­– not just caring for patients or the challenges of the operating room, but for the myriad paths of research he has pursued since he was an undergraduate.

Rachel Sauer | December 20, 2021

Two general surgery residents at the University of Colorado School of Medicine — Margot DeBot, MD, and TJ Schaid, MD — placed first and second, respectively, in the District 8 regional competition for the 2022 American College of Surgeons’ Committee on Trauma Paper Competition in early December. DeBot and Schaid are both T32 NIH research fellows in the CU Trauma Lab.

Greg Glasgow | December 17, 2021

The University of Colorado Department of Surgery's commitment to improve every life was spotlighted numerous times by faculty, staff, trainees, and students throughout 2021.

Department of Surgery | December 16, 2021

Empower Field at Mile High in Denver seats about 76,000 – a huge space with the population of a small city when filled to capacity.

Rachel Sauer | December 15, 2021

For many women in the medical field, the common pressures associated with the profession – long hours, emotional toll, work/life balance – can be magnified by the added experiences of misogyny and sexism. From making less than their male colleagues to seeing people express surprise that they are the doctor, women’s experiences can be fraught and frustrating.

Rachel Sauer | December 13, 2021

As the American Medical Association’s Women in Medicine Month concludes today, the University of Colorado Department of Surgery shines a spotlight on Elizabeth Pomfret, MD, PhD, chief of the Division of Transplant Surgery and the Igal Kam, MD, Endowed Chair of Transplant Surgery.

Khushnuma Damkevala | September 30, 2021

The traditional path for surgeons after they’ve completed medical school is a five-year general surgery residency followed by a two-year fellowship in an area of specialization. Even for surgeons who choose their specialty in medical school, this has been the most common training path.

Rachel Sauer | September 10, 2021

Of all the lessons she learned during the eight-week Medical Student Summer Research Program (MSRP), Rose Castle, a rising second year at the University of Colorado School of Medicine who is interested in pursuing general surgery, drew her main takeaway outside the operating room.

Rachel Sauer | August 10, 2021

Matthew Bartley, MD, MS, has gone viral (as in trending in the world of social media).

Greg Glasgow | July 01, 2021

The University of Colorado School of Medicine Department of Surgery hosted its Resident and Fellowship Graduation at Denver Botanic Gardens on June 11.

Valerie Gleaton | June 16, 2021

On May 19, 2021, more than 20 medical students from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, along with a handful of residents, fellows, and faculty members from the Department of Surgery, gathered in the home of Yihan Lin, MD, MPH, a cardiothoracic surgery fellow.

Valerie Gleaton | May 27, 2021

The depth and breadth of the research happening across the Department of Surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine was on full display in Monday’s eighth annual Research Symposium. Sixteen residents — eight from clinical and health services and eight from basic and translational research — presented papers on topics ranging from salvaging tissue in patients with frostbite to how shock can affect someone with a traumatic brain injury. The event was held virtually due to the pandemic.

Greg Glasgow | May 26, 2021

As they look back on one of the most challenging years in their medical careers, members of the Department of Surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine remember the low points — the crowded emergency rooms, the delayed surgeries, the deaths from the disease — but they remember some high points as well.

Greg Glasgow | March 24, 2021

“Diversity and inclusion in medicine can save lives.” That was the message from Robert Higgins, MD, MSHA, director of the Department of Surgery and surgeon-in-chief at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Department of Surgery | February 25, 2021

As a resident in the Department of Surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Heather Carmichael, MD, was accustomed to the emotional remove doctors have from their patients. The distance that allows surgeons to cut into someone without hesitation or to deliver bad news without falling apart.

Greg Glasgow | February 19, 2021

Eighteen physicians, residents, and medical students from the University of Colorado School of Medicine presented on their research this week at the Academic Surgical Congress, an annual convention hosted by the Society of University Surgeons.

Department of Surgery | February 05, 2021

The racial reckoning occurring in America in a year that saw the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and others touches nearly every aspect of society. From corporate boardrooms and HR departments to police forces and universities, assumptions are being questioned and priorities reexamined as we are reminded of the inequities that still exist for people of color.

Greg Glasgow | December 14, 2020

June 8, 2020 marked the graduation for general surgery residents within the Department of Surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, residents, family, friends, faculty and staff gathered together virtually to celebrate the completion of their programs and present awards.

Shelly Lange | June 11, 2020