TGH/TGMG - Trauma Surgery - 1 Tampa General Circle

Julia N. Smith is a clinical nurse who delivers integrative and evidence-based nursing care in collaboration with an inpatient multidisciplinary team of physicians, advanced practice providers, specialists, support staff and registered nurses. She earned her Master of Science in Nursing at the University of Tampa and Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of South Florida. Smith is affiliated with the Florida Association of Nurse Practitioners and received the CVS Health Foundation Scholarship, McNichols Scholarship and the TGH Nurses Week Scholarship. She is also a member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.

Wilson A. Cuesta is a certified physician assistant with Tampa General Hospital. Prior to joining Tampa General Hospital, he worked in a private family medicine practice at Hallandale Medical Center in Hallandale Beach, Fla. He also was a physician assistant with Rub Pediatrics, MD, PA, a private pediatrics practice in Aventura, Fla. Cuesta gained experience administering and recording radioactive isotope dosages as a nuclear medicine technology student at North Broward Hospital and Medical Center in Deerfield Beach, Fla.

Born and raised in Colombia and fluent in Spanish and English, Cuesta became a physician and surgeon in 1990 at the National University of Colombia in Bogota. He completed a one-year internship at the Fundación Santa Fe in Bogota, one of the most well-known health care institutions in South America. For the next 10 years, Cuesta practiced at his own general medicine practice and at the same time, he worked as an emergency physician at the Fundación Santa Fe.

Cuesta is married, has a daughter who is a dietitian and Catholic missionary, and a son who is a student at the University of Florida. In his free time, Cuesta enjoys spending time with his family and participating in outdoor activities. He is passionate about teaching.

Paul Shutter, MSN, APRN, NP‑C, HF‑Cert, is a State of Florida advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) nationally certified as an Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGNP‑C) and by the Heart Failure Society of America in Heart Failure (HF‑Cert). Paul has extensive clinical training in the evaluation, treatment, and management of patients with acute and chronic cardiovascular disease, with a particular focus on heart failure and advanced heart failure therapies.
With prior experience as a cardiac intensive care unit registered nurse at one of the nation’s highest‑volume solid organ transplant centers, Paul has cared for complex cardiac and transplant patients, including those requiring advanced mechanical circulatory support. He has practiced as both a dedicated RN and APRN in cardiology for nine years prior to subspecializing as an APRN in advanced heart failure. Paul earned his Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Tampa and holds dual bachelor’s degrees in Nursing and Exercise Science.
Paul currently collaborates with the TGMG Advanced Heart Failure physician team to deliver comprehensive, world‑class outpatient advanced heart failure and cardiovascular care. His clinical interests include heart failure and advanced heart failure therapies, cardiometabolic health, and lifestyle‑based therapeutic interventions.