Shawnecca Burke, MD
Recent Graduate Humanitarian Award 2024
Shawnecca D. Burke, MD, completed her family medicine residency in 2022 and is now an assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the medical director of Sloan’s Lake Primary Care Clinic at Denver Health. She also attends on labor delivery at Denver Health and acts as the coordinator for the first-year obstetrics rotation.
Growing up in Silver Spring, MD, Dr. Burke always wanted to work in the medical field and imagined becoming a midwife. Her Jamaican grandmother – who used herbal remedies and acted as a healer in her immigrant community – encouraged Dr. Burke to attend medical school instead. Her grandmother helped her think about how she could impact others in a more pronounced way but still have the same values.
During her time in medical school, Dr. Burke completed rotations through Indian Health Services. This solidified her desire to work in primary care in a small community. One of her mentors connected her to the University of Colorado, and she applied and was accepted to the rural training track.
Dr. Burke joined the Minority & Allied Resident Council (MARC) soon after she arrived on campus as an intern. At its basis, the mission of MARC is to foster community for people on campus who may not have an immediate support system. Connecting with other residents and fellows who had similar backgrounds made her feel less isolated. It was an eye-opening experience for her, showing that she wasn’t alone and didn’t have to completely forge her own path. There were so many other people who came before her – she just had to connect with them. In 2020, Dr. Burke was unanimously selected as the President of MARC and was successful in taking the organization to new levels in innovation, culture, and recruitment. Dr. Burke continues to support MARC as the faculty advisor as it builds community and helps those on campus find success.
In addition to community building, Dr. Burke has led the charge in enabling mentorship from minority faculty, bridging gaps between community members and physicians, cultivating safe spaces through backyard fire chats during the COVID pandemic, participating in multiple recruitment events across specialties, and leading discussions in departments about microaggressions and allyship.
Dr. Burke hopes that she can continue to make an impact and help students who are like her persevere and see themselves as successful – because that’s how we can start to improve representation on campus and ultimately shape culture.