David Bowden, MD

Saw Dr. Bowden for a basketball related hand injury. He could not have been more professional, knowledgeable or friendly. He went above and beyond by leveraging his network to avoid my having to see a specialist.

David was able to see me under super short notice. He was professional, genuine, and knowledgeable. I’m so glad I decided to come in! Thank you!

Dr Bowden has been my primary care doctor for three years and I have seen him for both sports-​related injuries and general health matters. He has been thorough, sympathetic and effective in treating me. I never feel that he is rushing through the appointment. He answers questions fully and has good follow-​up. The people in the office are also nice and have always been helpful with scheduling.

As the resident expert in sport medicine at One Medical, Dr. Bowden came highly recommended and seemed like an obvious choice to inspect my bum ankle when I started having issues running.
Within 2 minutes if stepping into his office, Dr. Bowden proved why he’s the man when it comes to sports-​related injuries. Through a combination of pointed, tactful questioning and some initial fracture tests, he was able to give me a thoughtful perspective on my injury, what may have happened, and how to get back to full health.
He’s been extremely responsive and helpful in finding a good place to rehab my ankle (it sounds like he’s even feigned injury to test out physical therapists around SF).
I love Dr. Bowden’s efficient, tactful, and friendly approach to working with his clients and am excited to have him on hand in the unfortunate (but increasingly frequent) times that I need help with sports injuries.

Dr. Bowden is a caring doctor. I do think that he genuinely has the heart to do the line of work he’s in. Below is some feedback as to way he’s not a 5 star.
My first meeting with him was very basic. I had to do a physical check up for work to get a rebate. Basically, he just filled out the paper and didn’t ask much else. I’m not really used to that. I asked him some follow up questions in the meeting and he said he would email me about a new health program. Never did.
I went to him again for an allergy problem. In my opinion he wasn’t very detailed. Mind you… he does more work with sports injuries and things like that. Anyhow, he did follow up after that. So he did better.
My general sense is that he may be best if you have a sport injury.
My biggest advice having gone through him is to stay on top of your own health. These docs see many patients and may forget about you or not have the knowledge to treat you. Listen to your body.

I saw Dr Bowden for annual checkup. Needed to find a new doctor at One Medical Group because my primary had moved on. But Dr Bowden is a fantastic replacement!
It was refreshing to see that he had read about 5 years of my medical records before I walked in. So we hit the ground running, and got through everything on my list and his in about 45 minutes time, which included him giving me some travel shots, sending a prescription to my pharmacy, and sending me to the lab in the One Medical Office to draw some blood. It was the most efficient doctor visit ever.
Dr Bowden has a perfect doctor/​patient manner. He listens incredibly well, and he had an answer at the ready for all my questions and health concerns.
I cannot recommend him highly enough. He said he is new to SF. But no doubt, he will fill his patient panel quickly once word of mouth starts. So if you are on the market for a new primary, get in there ;-)

Walnut Creek Orthopedics and Sports Medicine was created by Dr. William Workman, orthopedic surgeon to the Oakland As, California Bears, New England Patriots, and to former professional athletes like me, whose aches and pains are amplified with age. Will Workman has performed surgical miracles on me, my wife (a former Balanchine ballerina), and my son (a surgeon himself). Recently, Will has been joined by Dr. David Bowden, also a sports medicine specialist, but, interestingly, not a surgeon but an internist. They make a splendid combo I recently discovered.
I hobbled in great pain and without an appointment into their office in December, unable to cope one more minute with the excruciating pain in my Achilles tendon. Workman would be happy to see me after several waiting patients, and the staff were quick to fit me in – but they also said that Dr. Bowden had just come in and, if I had not yet met him, he would be able to see me immediately, before his first patient. I had the same remarkable experience with Dr. Bowden as I have been used to having with Dr. Workman.
Bowden examined my Achilles with ultrasound, explained in detail what the pictures were revealing, and gave me instructions as to exactly how to treat the Achilles: boot, anti-​inflamatories, icing, etc. I was advised that if I followed these instructions I should be at 90% within 10 – 14 days, should not change my plans for a Christmas scuba-​diving vacation two weeks hence, and should check in with him in early January. The course of my rehabilitation was exactly as Dr. Bowden had described and now, nearly a month later, I am 100% (and, with 12 days of diving to boot, pun intended). To cap my experience with Dr. Bowden, I had returned from Mexico on Christmas Day and received a call at home from the doctor himself on December 26^th, simply to find out how I was doing and if I had been able to enjoy the diving trip. I complimented Dr. Bowden on this «old school» style of medical practice, combining both high competence and high care/​caring. This is a standard of medical care that we all seek.
I will be returning to Dr. Workman for rotator cuff surgery in January 2013, fully confident that the Workman/​Bowden sports medicine practice will continue to epitomize the highest standards of the medical profession.
Robert M. Fisher, Ph.D.