Thomas R. Burklow, MD ’87

Colonel Thomas R. Burklow, MD, director for Population Health and HEDIS Compliance at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, is honored for his 30 years of outstanding service as a clinical, academic and administrative leader in the nation’s flagship military medical centers.

Burklow, who also serves as a senior attending pediatric cardiologist at Walter Reed and associate professor of pediatrics at the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland, will retire from military service in summer 2017.

Burklow earned his bachelor’s degree in 1983 and his medical degree in 1987 from Washington University. He completed postgraduate training in pediatrics at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and then became a staff pediatrician with the Army in Heidelberg, Germany. After serving in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, he completed a highly competitive pediatric cardiology fellowship at Children’s National Medical Center, then returned to Walter Reed, where he eventually became chief of pediatrics.

At Walter Reed, Burklow has been active in teaching, administration and clinical practice. In 2007, when the Department of Defense’s Base Realignment and Closure commission recommended the merger of Walter Reed with the National Naval Medical Center, Burklow was selected to lead the merger and integration of the institutions’ children’s health services and to serve as head of the new Integrated Department of Pediatrics. His work in guiding the merger was recognized as exemplary.

More recently, as director for Healthcare Operations at Walter Reed from 2014-2016, Burklow spearheaded initiatives that significantly improved access to care for military beneficiaries and improved the HEDIS population health program. Among his achievements was developing strategic partnerships with the Veterans Health Administration and National Institutes of Health (NIH) and civilian institutions such as the Johns Hopkins Health System.

Burklow has been honored for outstanding teaching and has published research findings in prominent cardiology journals. He received Walter Reed’s General Claire L. Channault Award, recognizing outstanding teaching, clinical care, leadership, scholarship and dignity and the Army Surgeon General’s “A” Proficiency Designator, which recognizes the highest level of professional achievement within one’s specialty. He also is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society.

The Washington University Medical Center Alumni Association is pleased to present its Alumni Achievement Award to Dr. Burklow.