Dr. AJ Julka

Dr. Julka has extensive experience in primary as well as revision surgical procedures. His scope of practice includes all disorders of the hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder from simple to complex.

An Ohio native, Dr. Julka grew up in Cleveland, Ohio.

He received his medical doctorate degree graduating Magna cum laude from The Ohio State University College of Medicine. It was in his first-year medical school class of “Human Anatomy” that Dr. Julka found his love for hand and upper extremity surgery. He completed a rigorous orthopedic surgery residency at the University of Michigan Hospitals. As a resident, he was recognized as a leader and had the distinction of being selected for the American Orthopedic Association resident leadership forum. He also received multiple “Making a Difference” awards for excellence in patient care and the Baril Award for research.

Following residency, Dr. Julka completed a year of advanced fellowship training in Hand and Upper Extremity surgery at Cleveland Clinic under the guidance of many of the pioneers of upper extremity surgery. 

After his fellowship, Dr. Julka spent 3 years as an Assistant Professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals. He was 1 of 4 surgeons tasked with care for all upper extremity trauma at this very busy level 1 trauma center.

In his early years of practice, Dr. Julka was able to advance his skills rapidly taking care of some of the most complex surgical patients in the state. During his time he focused on training the next generation of surgeons and surgeons around the community. For his efforts, Dr. Julka was awarded the Ozagaki Surgical Teaching Award for two consecutive years. He was the first surgeon in history to receive this honor two years in a row.

Dr. Julka then returned to Ohio to be closer to his family where he spent 4 years at The Ohio State University Medical Center, another level 1 trauma center.

Dr. Julka was once again part of a 4 surgeon team tasked in caring for some of the most complex upper extremity patients in the city

During his time at Ohio State University, Dr. Julka began working diligently on developing minimally invasive approaches to upper extremity surgeries and improvement of patient experience. Working closely with his hand therapy colleagues he developed a rapid recovery protocol for CMC arthroplasty patients. He was the first surgeon at the university to trial a minimally invasive wrist arthroscope.

He also developed and published numerous surgical technique videos to share less invasive methods with his colleagues in the US and around the world. For his efforts with innovation and patient care, Dr. Julka was promoted to Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery along a clinical excellence track in 2021.

Despite his clinical and academic success, Dr. Julka felt deeply that he could provide a higher level of and more personalized patient care outside of the academic environment.

In 2021 Dr. Julka found a team the gifted surgeons at JIS Orthopedics who shared his values of surgical innovation, expertise, and providing personalized world-class care to each and every patient.

Dr. Julka resides in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, Courtney Kauh, MD, an eyelid surgeon, his daughter Kaia, and his two dogs, Ollie and Lulu. He enjoys spending time with his family hiking, mountain biking, swimming, snowboarding, and cooking in his free time.