St. Luke’s Network’s First Female Colorectal Surgeon is ‘Home-Grown’

Julia Tolentino, MD, is rooted in the history of Temple/St. Luke’s School of Medicine at St. Luke’s University Hospital, and now, as St. Luke’s Colon & Rectal Surgery’s first female colorectal surgeon, she is welcoming patients in the Network that educated her.

In 2015, Tolentino graduated with the School of Medicine’s first class—the Lehigh Valley’s only four-year medical school—and then also spent her five-year general surgery residency with St. Luke’s. She is a prime example of St. Luke’s remarkable efforts to train and recruit doctors and specialists amid a national physician shortage. The Temple/St. Luke’s School of Medicine is the Lehigh Valley’s first and only four-year medical school. In addition to the medical school, the Network’s medical education program includes 50 fully accredited graduate medical education programs, with more than 500 residents and fellows. 

“We are very excited to have [Tolentino] back,” said Carrie Lewis, the director of operations for colon and rectal surgery, infectious disease and rheumatology. “It is always an honor when someone who trained here returns in some capacity, especially someone so well respected.”

Recently, Tolentino practiced in New Jersey after spending a year in Salt Lake City for her colorectal fellowship. Back at St. Luke’s, she has re-established meaningful connections. “These physicians, specialists, and surgeons are people whom I’ve known since medical school and residency,” she said. “It’s pretty cool to work with them now.”

Tolentino said she wanted to become a surgeon after her overwhelmingly positive experience at the Temple/St. Luke’s School of Medicine—and particularly thanks to her excellent mentors at St. Luke’s.

The fact that she is a woman will make it more comfortable for some colorectal patients to come to her with their concerns, she said. “That’s part of the reason I went into colorectal surgery. It’s a delicate topic, and you have to have a good rapport with patients for them to talk about things that could be sensitive or embarrassing.”

Female colorectal surgeons are in high demand nationally. Tolentino’s areas of expertise include everything related to the pelvic floor – an oft-overlooked problem area, especially for women – as well as other colorectal health issues such as cancer-related complications, fecal incontinence, rectal prolapse and anorectal conditions.