Sure, he gets teased about his “baby face” and ribbed as “the best 14-year-old doctor” around. But, coming in as the youngest member of an established specialty practice also has its benefits.

“The best thing is, I’ve been able to come in and just focus on orthopaedic surgery,” said Jamey Burrow, MD, who joined Mississippi Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center in August 2010.

“The business side has been going on for a long time and wasn’t anything I had to worry about,” he said. “I can really focus on foot and ankle problems, and being in a specialty group gives me that opportunity.”

A native of Jackson, Burrow is the son of local dermatologist William “Bill” Burrow, MD. His paternal grandfather was a pathologist, and there are nearly a dozen physicians between both sides of his family.

“I joke that if there’s a gene for being a doctor,” he said, “we’ve got it.”

Growing up within the medical community, it was only natural for Burrow to pursue a career in a familiar field. He studied biomedical engineering for his undergraduate and Master of Science degrees, at Vanderbilt University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, respectively.

That early training exposed him to the imaging aspects of MRI and also gave him a basic understanding to build upon.

“I apply it today in thinking mechanically in regards to foot and ankle problems,” he said. “That area is a foundation for the body.”

Burrow went on to earn a medical degree from the University of Mississippi School of Medicine in 2004. During medical school, he was awarded the John Houston Wear Foundation Scholarship, the Donald Imrie Award and the David S. Pankratz Scholarship for Outstanding Achievement in the Freshman Medical Year. He was a member of Phi Kappa Phi honor society and served as chapter president of Alpha Omega Alpha honor medical society.

Burrow completed his internship and residency in orthopaedic surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

His own high-school basketball career at Jackson Academy helped direct him toward orthopaedics.

“Most orthopaedic surgeons have gone through a period where they get their fair share of injuries and visit orthopaedic surgeons themselves,” he said. “I had my fair share of ankle sprains and ankle trouble, so that’s another thing that helped draw me to specialize in foot and ankle.”

In addition to the attractive challenge of performing surgery, Burrow appreciates orthopedists’ ability to impact the quality of life of their patients.

“We don’t save people from dying, but we save people’s quality of life,” he said. “There’s just something I enjoy in that.”

Burrow completed his training at the Campbell Clinic in Memphis, Tenn., where he spent a year-long fellowship focused on foot and ankle surgery. Family friendships with several physicians at Mississippi Sports Medicine helped connect him with the group as his fellowship ended.

Founded in 1984, the group is made up of a dozen fellowship-trained specialists, all of whom are certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. The group was glad to add a new specialist in the area of foot and ankle surgery.

“This was an area of huge need, not only in Jackson, but in Mississippi in general,” Burrow said, adding that he is one of only a half-dozen foot-and-ankle specialists across the entire state.

While Burrow has leaned upon more-established members of the group to show him the ropes, he has brought to the table the benefit of fresh training and cutting-edge technology. Sharing the patient load with partner Penny Lawin, MD, the group’s other foot-and-ankle specialist, has allowed him to complement her existing practice with newer procedures.

 “There have been a lot of changes in the technology of ankle replacement, making it a much more viable option for patients and much more on-par with knee replacement,” he said.

“Additionally, we’re doing a lot more in foot-and-ankle arthroscopically, where we’re able to minimize the amount of scar tissue and allow patients to resume activities sooner than with more-open procedures.”

Today, Burrow said, he is able to repair an Achilles tendon through an incision the size of a fingertip, rather than making a big incision and creating the risk of wound-healing problems.

“These kinds of changes have made a dramatic difference,” he said.

In a given week, Burrow spends a total of two full days in surgery and three days in clinic, arranged into half-day blocks. He sees patients at the group’s Madison satellite office on Monday afternoons and otherwise is based at the main Jackson clinic on East Fortification Street.

His most common procedures include repairs of ankle and foot fractures, reconstruction cases such as ankle-ligament reconstruction, and surgery to correct bunions or to relieve arthritis pain and stiffness in the ankle or big toe. He also has a special interest in treating osteochondral lesions, which involves bone and cartilage damage in the ankle.

His family includes wife Melanie, daughter Betsy, 8, and twin sons William and Richard, 5. Outside of work, Burrow enjoys playing golf and hunting for deer and pheasant.

Settling in Jackson has allowed the family to be close to both sets of grandparents.

“We were in San Antonio for five years, and we loved it, but it was difficult being so far from our family,” Burrow said. “Jackson is home and is we wanted to come back to. We feel fortunate to be here.”

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