About Dr. Berland
Raised in Oklahoma, Dr. Greg Berland graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1996 and then medical school at the University of Oklahoma in 2000. He served as Chief Resident at Bayfront Medical Center in St Petersburg, Florida. In 2003 he completed his Family Medicine Residency and was a clinical professor for his residency program for several years after graduation. He opened his own practice in 2003 and has served the Tampa/Westchase area of Florida ever since.
During the last six years, Dr. Berland has been listed twice in the “Top Family Doctors” of the Greater Tampa Bay area by Tampa Magazine. He has served in senior leadership positions with the Advent Hospital system and in medical directorship positions in a wide range of healthcare, including compounding pharmacy, medical spa, physical therapy, home health, hospice, and for several senior living facilities and skilled nursing facilities. He is certified in hyperbaric medicine and has also interpreted more than 750 sleep studies on his patients. For 15 years he rounded on his own patients at four local hospitals. He has also been involved in teaching medical students, residents, and other physicians in a wide variety of subjects. With more than 25 years of experience as a physician, Dr. Berland has completed more than 150,000 patient visits.
Soon after completion of medical school and residency, Dr. Berland began to understand that disease management and Functional Health are two completely different paths in medicine. Subsequently, Dr. Berland has completed thousands of hours of research in wellness protocols. As a result of managing and prescribing bioidentical hormone treatments for more than 22 years, he is an expert at this process. He is actively involved in Lifestyle Medicine, which focuses on preventing disease and improving health by encouraging long-term behavioral changes that impact diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management. This Lifestyle Medicine discipline focuses on addressing the root causes of illness rather than just treating symptoms, often using plant-based, whole-food nutrition and behavior modification techniques to restore health. He will sit for Lifestyle Medicine board certification in the fall of 2026. Dr. Berland also holds several certifications from the American Academy of Anti-Aging, including peptide treatments, weight management, bio-identical hormone management, and IV nutrition protocols.
When not working as a physician, Dr. Berland spends time with his wife, two daughters, and the rest of his local family.
He enjoys time on his boat with his family and coaches flag football.
An athlete since elementary school, he has completed 10 triathlons and spent almost 10 years in CrossFit.
Dr. Berland has completed five Tough Mudders and many other off-road races, including a 50K in Aspen.
He would probably rather be skiing or hiking in Colorado than doing anything else!
Why Family Medicine for Dr. Berland?
Family Medicine chose me when I was 17 years old. The summer before my senior year in high school, my father went to our family doctor with what seemed like an innocent complaint. His knees were hurting him. Simple enough, and with my father 48 years old at the time, his complaint could easily have been explained by his time spent as a Green Beret and paratrooper. Based on history taking and a physical exam, his family doctor told him in that office visit he suspected lung cancer. A few minutes later, an X-ray proved his diagnosis, and my dad was immediately sent to the hospital for a biopsy,. A week later, he had life-saving surgery to remove the cancer.
Fast forward 35 years to fall 2025. My father was walking into my nephew’s high school football game with my wife and me. He made a quick comment about how he thought he had pulled a muscle in his lower leg. But he wasn’t limping. He mentioned that the leg would only bother him after he’d walked a quarter mile or so. After that he’d need to stop and rest for a few minutes. Then the pain would improve. That last part didn’t fit the story of a pulled muscle. After I asked him a few more questions, I realized he needed testing. Days later an ultrasound showed a complete blockage of the major artery that provides blood supply to his leg.
I texted a vascular surgeon I’ve known for years. Before I could tell my father what his treatment plan would be, this surgeon had already called him to make an appointment. Impressive! Even more impressive was the vascular procedure that cleaned out my father’s artery and immediately resolved his symptoms. I was thrilled!
But I’ve learned that if you find vascular disease somewhere, you need to look for it in other places. I texted my dad’s cardiologist, and an appointment was quickly scheduled for a stress test to evaluate his heart. The test didn’t go well, and, soon after, a heart catheterization was done. Of the three main arteries that feed your heart, one of my father’s was 100 percent blocked, and the two “good” ones were 95 percent blocked. He needed to be transferred to another hospital to have an emergency, complex procedure done to open up one of these coronary arteries.
There were several complications, and my father ended up in the hospital 15 out of the next 20 days. I was able to communicate with several of his specialists daily to make sure everything was done in an appropriate, timely fashion. Fortunately, the second procedure for his heart went much more smoothly, and literally the day after his last procedure he walked 2.5 miles! Altogether, five stents were surgically placed in his coronary arteries for what was originally thought to be a “muscle strain”!
It’s been 30 years since I began my journey in medicine. This amazing experience has taught me that my patients’ stories will usually tell me where to look for the problems that are keeping them from their optimal health. This information isn’t usually something they share in the first minute of an appointment, either. With the pressure of seeing progressively more patients in shorter time slots, there is a real danger of missing something.
Everyone deserves elevated healthcare. Unhurried discussions, thoughtful decision-making, careful planning to optimize your path to better health. Also a doctor whom you can reach urgently when additional care is needed! Unfortunately, with large healthcare groups and insurance companies that are quick to deny healthcare costs that they deem “unnecessary,” it’s challenging to get the time needed for appropriate care. The current healthcare financial model works only when physicians are fully booked (or overbooked), so there are often delays of weeks to months to get an appointment when needed.
With this in mind, I’ve decided to start my own medical practice. Patients First Direct Primary Care is built on the model that’s already more than 3,000 doctors strong, serving more than 1.5 million patients across the United States. Direct Primary Care doctors work for you specifically, not for your insurance company or for a huge medical group. I get to spend as much time with patients as I see fit, in person or remotely, and (almost) always on time. These goals and standards are not possible unless I’m the one making the decisions. This model of practice doesn’t fit neatly into that of insurance companies and huge hospital systems. I’m here to help keep you out of the loop of fragmented, reactive care.
I practice Functional Medicine, which proactively focuses on optimized nutrition, regular physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, positive social connections, and more. Testing to discover root causes of illness. Self-directed ways for optimizing your health, and when needed recommendations for nutrition, bio-idential hormones, peptides, and traditional prescriptive medication. Insurance doesn’t cover this type of quality care, and certainly doesn’t allow for extended appointments with your physician, and so Direct Primary Care is a monthly membership model. There aren’t contractual time commitments that you’ll have to sign to be in my practice. If for any reason you think this model isn’t for you, I’ll help to coordinate your care until you find another physician.
I pray for your health and hope that when you have a medical concern, I’m the physician who is there to listen and help you maximize your health.