Dr. Felipe Ituarte is an orthopedic spine surgeon at Valley View’s Spine Center. He completed his medical training at UCLA after finishing undergraduate work at the University of California, Riverside. In addition, he completed an orthopedic residency at the University of Missouri and a fellowship in spine surgery at Northwestern University in Chicago. Before joining the Valley View team, Dr. Ituarte practiced spine surgery at OrthoMontana, a top-quality care provider in Billings, Montana.

Dr. Ituarte spent four years in the United States Navy before moving on to college, where he served as an aviation structural mechanic, working on F-14s, F-18s and other naval air power. This background helps him navigate the ins and outs of his professional life today. “I identify problems in the body—that’s my mechanical background at work,” he says. “My goal is to treat my patients with a comprehensive approach and use my technical mindset to support surgical decision making. I start with the most conservative treatment and move toward more aggressive strategies in order to solve the problem for the long term.”

These days, Dr. Ituarte spends lots of time with his wife and small children, but adventure is a big part of his life, too. He enjoys mountain biking and hiking in the mountains, and has travelled to New Zealand, Turkey and Costa Rica in pursuit of great whitewater rafting.