Authority Magazine Features Dr. Felipe Ituarte of Valley View Spine Center

National publication Authority Magazine recently featured Orthopedic Spine Surgeon Dr. Felipe Ituarte of the Valley View Spine Center in a long-form interview, "5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became a Doctor."

In the interview, Dr. Ituarte reflects on lessons learned throughout his journey, from serving in the U.S. Navy as an aviation mechanic to becoming an orthopedic spine surgeon and caring for patients in the Roaring Fork Valley.

Excerpt from the interview:

What are your "5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started" and why?

1. Your career doesn’t have to be a straight line.
I started my adult career working on aircraft in the Navy. I certainly didn’t have a perfectly laid-out plan that ended with me becoming a spine surgeon. Don’t be afraid to take a different path if you discover something you’re passionate about.

2. Find people who are better than you and learn from them.
I’ve had mentors throughout my career who were much better than I was at certain things. Instead of being intimidated by that, I tried to learn everything I could from them.

3. Don’t let your career become your entire identity.
Medicine is demanding, and it’s very easy to allow it to consume everything. But you’re also a spouse, a parent, a friend, an athlete, or whatever else is important to you. Those things don’t stop mattering because you’re a physician.

4. Take care of your body.
It’s ironic that spine surgeons spend their careers telling people to take care of themselves, and then physicians sometimes neglect their own health. Staying active has always been important to me.

5. Don’t wait until you’ve accomplished everything to enjoy your life.
There’s always another goal. Another promotion, another operation to learn, another paper, another milestone. If you keep telling yourself you’ll enjoy life when you reach the next one, you’ll miss a lot of life along the way.

Read the full interview here: Felipe Ituarte of Valley View Spine Center: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became a Doctor

Originally published by Authority Magazine on September 17, 2026.