Meet the Team: Julie Lipa, PA-C

As a former college figure skater, Physician Assistant Julie Lipa knows what it’s like to be injured. It’s what drives her work with the Anderson Sports Medicine team.

“When you’ve been an athlete and it’s your whole world, you want to be in a position to get [an injury] fixed and then get back to what you love to do,” she says.

Julie works with Dr. Anderson as his first assistant in the operating room and as a key point of contact for patients after surgery. Once a week, she also holds an intake clinic to help determine if new patients need surgery or if a non-surgical plan of care can be arranged between herself and patients.

Whether it’s working with children or with collegiate and professional athletes, the most rewarding part of her job is getting athletes back in the game.

“Some of them think ‘Is this the end of my career?’” Julie explains. “And most of the time, we’re able to get them fully back to their sports competitively.”

Julie earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Miami University in Ohio and a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies from Wayne State University before joining Dr. Anderson in 2013. With orthopedics being an elective, Julie says her real education in treating sports injuries has come from Dr. Anderson.

“From the ground up, he taught me basically everything I know,” she says. “All the stuff that we do surgically, but also how to treat patients with a certain type of injury.”

After working with Dr. Anderson so closely over the years, she says the team feels like family.

“If someone asks me a question about what Dr. Anderson would say, I kind of know what he would say, because I’ve been working with him for so long,” she says. “It’s become second nature that we’re on the same page and have the same viewpoints about a lot of things.”

Julie has had two children since joining Dr. Anderson’s practice. She’s able to work a part-time schedule that allows her to take care of her family’s needs while pursuing the career she loves.

“Dr. Anderson has been really good about letting me find that kind of work-life balance,” she says.

In addition to the strong training staff members receive, what sets Anderson Sports Medicine apart, Julie says, is that they don’t let patients slip through the cracks. From getting checked in at the front desk to getting x-rays to seeing a practitioner or surgeon, the team makes sure each patient has a well-rounded experience.

“Everyone works together so ultimately, the number one thing is that our patients are taken care of and they’re happy.”