Dr. Julia Joseph-Di Caprio

Photography by John Wagner and Steve Henke

Julia Joseph–Di Caprio, MD

Adolescent Medicine

Julia Joseph–Di Caprio

Hennepin County Medical Center
Subspecialty: General pediatrics and adolescent medicine
Other Work: HCMC chief of pediatrics, Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center medical director, Hennepin County Home School, and Minneapolis public school-based clinics
Medical School: University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign
Residency and Fellowship: University of Minnesota
Family: Husband, two children
Home: St. Paul
Hobbies: Travel, watching kids’ sports matches

Why did you want to work with teenagers?
Teens have health needs that are both interesting and challenging. It’s a difficult time for families, and I enjoy helping them. Teens are also fun to talk to. It becomes more than clinical care.

What does your work with teens involve?
I like to say that I work with “misbehaving” teenagers. I tend to get the most challenging teens with mental health issues or high-risk sexual activity. But we want to see them when they’re at their worst and having the hardest time.

What are alarming trends in the field?
We have rates of type two diabetes among our adolescents that we’ve never seen before. The challenge is that a lot of these teens are underserved and have limited money and access to the health care system. That’s a huge problem because they need medication, exercise programs, and nutrition services, and they don’t have it.

What do you like about your work in the correctional facilities?
What’s important for me is being able to be a role model for my patients. For someone to see a physician who is a black woman and is a physician of prominence is still new. It’s really helpful for my patients to see that.

Is it hard to work with the underprivileged?
Adolescent medicine is not something where you cure anybody. If every time a patient gets pregnant or gets in trouble you’re disappointed, this is not the business for you.