Southwest Florida's Health and Wellness Magazine Health and Wellness Articles
Dr. Kellen Gower grew up in a small town near Nashville, Tennessee, on a horse farm. Here he learned the value of family, hard work, and reliability from a young age. In his spare time, he was an avid sports enthusiast, excelling in the classroom and on the field as a multisport student-athlete. Like many young athletes, Dr. Gower encountered his fair share of sports-related injuries along the way, including none more significant than breaking his collarbone on his throwing arm twice his senior year of high school after receiving multiple opportunities to play quarterback in the SEC. Following these setbacks, Dr. Gower changed his focus and used the same lessons he learned on the field to pursue a career in medicine.
He went on to attend the University of Tennessee for medical school and then on to one of the top family medicine residencies in the country at Bayfront Health in St. Petersburg, Florida. During his time here, he met his future wife, trained in full-scope family medicine, and became a patient advocate in organized medicine at the state and national level. Dr. Gower never lost his love for sports and knew he wanted to incorporate sports medicine into his future practice, so as with all of his endeavors, he set out to achieve his goals at the highest level. He was accepted for fellowship at the prestigious James Andrews Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center in Birmingham, Alabama, where he learned to take care of recreational, collegiate, and elite professional athletes of all ages.
We sat down with Dr. Gower and asked him to tell us more about his passion for medicine, helping others, and what sets his practice apart:
“First off, my wife and I are thrilled to be back in her home state of Florida and looking forward to putting down long term roots in this terrific community. After so many years of training and moving around the country, it is wonderful to finally settle in and start this next chapter of life.
“I have been very fortunate in my young career to train under some of the most amazing primary care physicians and orthopedic specialists around. From this, I am very excited to be able to offer patients both high quality evidence-based primary care and non-operative orthopedics/sports medicine. I understand the latter is something many people may not be as familiar with, as they typically think of orthopedics or sports medicine and their mind immediately goes to surgery. While that is certainly a part of the treatment algorithm, thankfully, many of the most common injuries and ailments do not require surgery or at least surgery can be staved off for a prolonged period of time. That is where I come in. As medicine and technology have advanced over the years, we have found that many conditions we used to think of as a surgical indication can now be treated very well with conservative targeted therapies. Our office uses multiple modalities, including musculoskeletal ultrasound, to provide dynamic imaging of anatomical structures to aid in the diagnosis and potential therapeutic interventions for our patients. In addition, we are able to offer safe orthobiologic options, such as platelet-rich-plasma (PRP), when indicated for certain conditions.
“As our population continues to be active and age, we are seeing more and more chronic use disorders, including osteoarthritis and chronic tendinopathies. While these conditions are not directly life-threatening, they can provide significant impairment, discomfort, and functional disability to our patients. These conditions are not only seen in our geriatric populations, but also our weekend warriors, first responders, and manual laborers. Using an individualized approach, our treatment goals stem around helping our patients get back to doing what they love and functioning at their highest level possible.
“I also have a large interest and am a big proponent of injury prevention through early identification of risk factors and proper rehabilitation programs. There has been a particular concerning rising in sports-related injuries in our youth population over the last decade. Because of this, I am working to partner with our local youth leagues and high schools to not only better identify injured athletes, but also implement injury prevention programs and to provide high yield educational talks (example: concussion management) to our parents and coaches to help keep our young athletes on the field.
“Growing up in a small farming town, I understand the challenges many of our patients face in terms of navigating an ever complex medical world. My goal is to simplify the process for our patients, educate them about their diagnosis and treatment options in terms they can understand, and promote them living healthy active lifestyles. I look forward to bringing my past experiences and knowledge base to Millennium Physicians Group and helping our local community.”
Kellen Gower, M.D.
Dr. Kellen Gower is a family medicine physician, and fellowship-trained non-operative orthopedics and sports medicine specialist. He earned his Bachelor of Science from Middle Tennessee State University, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He later received his Medical Degree at the University of Tennessee Health and Science Center in Memphis, Tennessee. After medical school, Dr. Gower went on to complete his family medicine residency at Bayfront Health in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he completed concentration areas in critical care medicine, inpatient medicine, ambulatory pediatrics, outpatient medicine, and sports medicine. During his residency, he was very involved with the Florida Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Family Physicians. He was also resident vice-president and a house delegate at the American Medical Association.
Growing up a dual-sport athlete, he pursued his love of sports and completed a fellowship at the prestigious Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center in Birmingham, Alabama. Here he specialized in sports-related injuries in patients of all ages and levels, musculoskeletal ultrasound, fracture care, arthritis care, injury prevention, overuse injuries, sports physicals, team coverage, mass event coverage, and steroid/biologic injections.
He is board-certified in Family Medicine and completed his CAQ in Sports Medicine. He also maintains BLS, ACLS, and PALS certifications.
His interests include all sports and outdoor activities (former all-state quarterback and baseball pitcher). He loves spending time with his wife, her extended Italian family, and two dogs. Dr. Gower is a devout Christian and strives to take the best possible care of his patients.
He welcomes you to his practice in Brooksville.
Millennium Physician Group
To schedule your appointment, please call Dr. Gowers office at
(352) 796-5303.
31075 Cortez Blvd., Brooksville, FL 34602
millenniumphysician.com
