As we reflect on the remarkable career of Joy Hawkins, MD and her 32 years of service with the University of Colorado’s Department of Anesthesiology, you not only appreciate her dedication, expertise, and a profound commitment to shaping clinical practice and our department, but also her perspective as a witness to the evolution of anesthesiology and the medical field.

Hawkins’ career began as an Obstetric Anesthesia fellow at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She describes the county women's hospital as a high-volume (50 deliveries a day!), dynamic environment with a diverse patient population, providing her with exposure to unique cases. At a time when fellowships were not traditionally part of one’s training, Hawkins completed a fellowship in obstetric anesthesia followed by critical care, a unique combination of two specialties.  This multidisciplinary approach proved beneficial during her early career, especially when working in a freestanding women's hospital with its own ICU on labor and delivery. Her critical care background added depth to her skills and enhanced patient care.

In 1992, she and her husband, Randall Clark, MD, a recently retired pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist with our department, moved from Houston to Colorado. At the time, the department consisted of about 20 faculty members at the 9th Avenue Campus. Since then, Hawkins has witnessed significant growth as we now boast over 330 faculty. She has also lived through a substantial campus location change to Anschutz in 2007 and numerous changes to the breadth, depth and scope of activities within our department and the field in general.

Her commitment to gender equity and the ever-elusive work/life wellness balance, comes from the trial and error of managing a substantial career with family life. When pressed to give advice, Hawkins acknowledged that the practice of anesthesiology demands a commitment beyond traditional working hours. To make it all work, she said, boils down to choosing the right partner, reliable childcare, and household help as key elements in being able to manage it all.  

National Influence and Exposure

As someone whose philosophy is to say “yes” to opportunities, Hawkins knows quite a bit about managing it all. She is a nationally recognized figure with extensive involvement in various anesthesiology associations, including SOAP (Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology), FAER (Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research), IARS (International Anesthesia Research Society) and of course ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists).

From President, Past Chairman and Board of Directors at FAER to roles as Section chair with ASA, Board of Trustee member with IARS and Senior examiner with the ABA to Delegate and Past President of the Colorado Society of Anesthesiologists, one key takeaway is to diversify and broaden your exposure to individuals who are practicing outside of your own department.  Hawkins explains her participation in SOAP (where she was Past President and former member of the Board of Directors) as a beneficial growth experience for lifelong learning and networking.

Dr. Hawkins’ advice to those embarking on a career in anesthesiology is to put yourself in roles where you can learn from peers across the country who share your interests. She highlights the collaborative nature of SOAP, where members exchange insights, engage in research, and contribute to educational activities related to obstetric anesthesia. In taking on these national roles and responsibilities, she excelled at bridging connections between different organizations, facilitating collaboration, and addressing concerns or misconceptions that may have existed.

Medical Education

Hawkins played a pivotal role in building and molding our residency program, which she directed from 1992 to 2017, in addition to being Vice-Chair of Education until 2019.  As part of her interest in graduate medical education and lifelong learning, she was a founding member of AACPD (Association of Academic Core Program Directors) as well as a past-President.

She has a clear understanding of the importance of department faculty recruitment that fills clinical roles and offers critical expertise in sub-specialties – the combination that drives exceptional educational training opportunities.  In her tenure as a faculty member, Hawkins has seen the field change to greater levels of expertise and sub-specialization – crucial components of a well-rounded, academic medical education department. She was an early champion of adding experts to the department’s team who can ‘go deep’ and offer a level of training proficiency and exposure to up and coming residents and fellows.   

As she describes, there is a crucial balance between niche sub-specialization and cultivating generalists who are exposed to and comfortable with a diversity of cases. For trainees, Hawkins champions comprehensive training through broad exposure to various subspecialties. This ensures residents gain proficiency in diverse surgical procedures and develop a well-rounded skill set vital for navigating the intricate challenges of their future practice.

Celebrating 32 years!

As we celebrate Dr. Joy Hawkins' incredible journey, we also look to the future of anesthesiology. Her 32-year tenure at the CU Dept of Anesthesiology has not only shaped the department but has also left an indelible mark on the broader landscape of the profession. As we celebrate her accomplishments, we also anticipate the continued growth and innovation that will undoubtedly define the future of anesthesiology under her lasting influence.

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