Julie Mathew

Julie Mathew Strives to Be a Good Listener

“One of the most important jobs of a primary care professional is to stop and listen.”

Julie Mathew chose the health care field because she can make a difference in a life. “What attracted me to being a primary care physician assistant, and what keeps me going, is that I’m helping my patients strive to have a healthy life,” says Julie. “My day is filled with seeing patients, ordering labs and diagnosing patients with conditions ranging from a simple cold to diabetes, stroke or chest pains. I pay attention to everything they say, which helps me gauge how they are doing or what they need. It is so satisfying when a patient’s health improves because they listened and followed my guidance.”

Julie was attracted specifically to family medicine because every day provides something different. “There are days when my patients run the gamut from pediatrics to geriatrics, and their needs range from a wellness visit to relieving a common cold to managing hypertension or diabetes. I thrive on the variety family medicine offers, the opportunity to build strong relationships and the fulfillment I get from helping improve the health of another person.”

She joined Vanguard in 2011 as a physician assistant and, under the guidance of a medical doctor, provides a variety of services to patients, including annual physicals, wellness checkups, diagnoses, medication management, blood pressure screenings, inoculations and vaccinations. Prior to Vanguard, Julie worked in neurosurgery at UMDNJ.

Julie is fluent in Malayalam, a South Indian dialect, which has been helpful in the office, especially when communicating with elderly patients who speak English as a second language. “In any language, people want to be understood and we need to listen.” When she is not seeing patients, she keeps herself busy as a mother of two children and, in her spare time, loves to travel.