After working with professional athletes, Darren Barton, DO has decided the best place to be is back where he started.
Dr. Barton, a graduate of Lincoln Memorial University’s medical school and member of the inaugural class rotating through Cumberland Medical Center, has joined Covenant Medical Group at Cumberland Orthopedics.
“This area is my home, and will always be my home. People tend to take care of their own in ways that far exceed the typical relationship most physicians have with their patients,” Dr. Barton says.
Oakdale Beginnings
Dr. Barton, whose hometown is Oakdale in neighboring Morgan County, attended a small, K-12 school and played baseball from the age of five until he graduated and left for college. At the time, he thought he had his life mapped out, and orthopedic surgery was nowhere on the course.
“Initially, I planned on attending law school,” he says. He was in his fourth year of college and majoring in political science when he decided to refocus his career. The reason? He wasn’t satisfied with the gray areas in law.
“The appealing side of medicine is that it’s rather concrete. In medicine, fact is always fact, and science is always science.”
Dr. Barton has never shied away from a good challenge, and medical school seemed like a good challenge. So after graduating from the University of Tennessee, he left Knoxville for Harrogate and LMU.
Three Reasons for Orthopedic Surgery
From medical school, Dr. Barton went on to pursue orthopedic surgery for three reasons. The first came from the same line of reasoning that had taken him from law to medicine: he liked the idea that there weren’t many gray areas in orthopedics.
“Orthopedics is a somewhat a cut and dry specialty – Is the bone broken? Is the joint arthritic? All of those things are easily defined.”
Second, there was the allure of a new challenge. “Orthopedic surgery is among the most difficult of all specialties to join,” Dr. Barton says.
There was one other reason Dr. Barton chose the field of orthopedic surgery. He knew he could make a measureable difference in the lives of his patients, and there would be a great return on his investment.
Learning from the best Dr. Barton was offered a fellowship in sports medicine at the prestigious Hughston Foundation in Columbus, GA. Hughston developed the first sports medicine fellowship program in the country, and its doctors have cared for thousands of athletes, sometimes being the first surgeons to develop advancements in sports medicine surgery and arthroscopy.
“I spent a year there caring for collegiate athletes at Columbus State University, world-renowned jockeys at a National Steeple Chase event, and working the sidelines as a team physician for a large 5A high school in Georgia. I spent the last year caring for the Columbus Cottonmouths Hockey Team, a professional team that often plays the Icebears in Knoxville.”
Dr. Barton also received the Hughston Fellowship Award for a
research presentation at the 2017 Hughston Society Biennial Meeting. His presentation addressed a surgical procedure used to treat bicep tendonitis of the shoulder.
The Road Home
Not long ago, Dr. Barton decided it was time to take his career in a new direction that would bring him closer to his old home place. East Tennessee was calling, and it was a call he couldn’t ignore. With family still living in Tennessee to welcome him back, Dr. Barton has returned, and he couldn’t be happier.
“As much as I’ve traveled, there’s no place like home. I love the culture and the heritage in East Tennessee, and I want my children to experience that.”
Dr. Barton lives in Crossville with his wife and four children. They enjoy outdoor activities, and are active in their church.
About Dr. Barton
In addition to general orthopedic care, Dr Barton specializes in:
- Foot and ankle issues
- Rotator cuff injuries and shoulder pain
- Shoulder and knee replacements
He is a member of the:
- American Osteopathic Association
- Tennessee Osteopathic Medicine Association
- American Osteopathic Academy of Orthopaedics
- American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Dr. Barton is accepting new patients. For more information, call (931) 459-4262.
Office Location
Cumberland Orthopedics
118 Brown Avenue, Suite 103
Crossville, TN 38555
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Covenant Medical Group, Crossville Orthopedic Surgery, Cumberland Medical Center, Cumberland Orthopedic Surgeon, Cumberland Orthopedic Surgery, Cumberland Orthopedics, Dr. Darren Barton, Orthopedic Surgeon Darren Barton