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Media Notice: All media representatives and photographers must be escorted by a member of our Media Relations team while on campus. Please contact Kim Savage [kim-savage@smh.com] to arrange onsite interviews or video/photo shoots of patients, staff and healthcare providers in our facilities. For non-media inquiries, please call (941) 917-7777.

FSU Medical Alum Returns to Sarasota, Joins FPG OB-GYN Team

FSU Medical Alum Returns to Sarasota, Joins FPG OB-GYN Team

Tuesday, October 3, 2017


SARASOTA, Fla. – (Oct. 3, 2017) – Sarasota Memorial Health Care System recently welcomed back Kathryn Gard, MD, a new OB-GYN physician and former Florida State University medical student, to the community and the physician group that influenced her decision to specialize in women’s care. 

Dr. Gard returned to SMH’s First Physicians Group (FPG) Obstetrics and Gynecology practice on Sept. 25, joining Drs. Ruth Dyal, Kelly Hamel, Neil Pollack, Kristen Shepherd, Michael Shroder, and Greg Towsley in the practice where she completed her OB-GYN rotation during medical school five years earlier. 

After earning her medical degree at Florida State University College of Medicine’s Sarasota campus in 2013, Dr. Gard completed a four-year residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology in June 2017 at George Washington University in Washington, DC. From maternity care to screening for cancer and critical primary and preventive care, OB-GYN specialists are at the frontline of women’s healthcare. It is a field experiencing an increasing shortage of specialists in Florida and across the nation.

A junior fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and member of the American Medical Association, Dr. Gard has led research projects focusing on hormonal and non-hormonal therapy for vasomotor symptoms and advanced screening for Lynch syndrome in endometrial and colon cancer patients, as well as interspecialty consultation, cultural competency and other quality improvement initiatives. She is nationally certified in electronic fetal monitoring and neonatal resuscitation. She also has participated in several volunteer projects over the last 10 years, including Project Medishare and Hearts Affire medical missions to Haiti and Ghana. She also provided information and support to newly diagnosed cancer patients and those undergoing treatment through the Solaris Cancer Support Center in Perth, Australia.

Dr. Gard will provide a full spectrum of women’s reproductive and gynecological care at the FPG practice located at 1921 Waldemere Street, Suite 802. For information or appointments, call the practice at (941) 917-7888.

About Sarasota Memorial’s First Physicians Group
First Physicians Group is a network of more than 165 primary and specialty care physicians and advanced care practioners employed by Sarasota Memorial Health Care System to help fill the gaps caused by a shortage of physicians in the region. Specialties include: Bariatric Surgery; Cardiovascular/Thoracic, Orthopedic Trauma and General Surgery; Internal Medicine and Family Practice; Pediatrics; Obstetrics/Gynecology; Perinatology (Maternal-Fetal Medicine); Gynecological Oncology; Gastrointestinal Oncology; Dermatology; Palliative Care; Pain Management and Physiatry.