By SUE SIENS
If you have a stopped up drainpipe or leaky plumbing, you call a plumber, right? Well, maybe you should call a specialist … especially if the plumbing is in you!
Since 1989, Dr. Charles Gill has been diagnosing and treating urological disorders, serving thousands of patients in Wilson County and surrounding Middle Tennessee. Urology is the medical field dedicated to the treatment of disorders related to the kidneys, bladder, adrenal glands, ureters, urethra and male reproductive organs.
Urology also includes surgery and treatment of various related cancers including prostate, bladder and testicular cancer. As Dr. Gill explained, “Your urinary tract is much like plumbing with pumps, filters and tubing. Your kidneys filter and cleanse the blood, producing a waste product, which flows through the ureters into the bladder, and then it is pumped out as urine. It’s your body’s natural way of getting rid of toxins and waste. When there is an obstruction like a kidney stone, infection or other disease in the organs, that’s when the patient begins experiencing problems.”
“Sometimes our patients might be reluctant to seek treatment or discuss these issues because of the personal and private nature of their problems,” said Dr. Gill. “We are aware of their sensitivity and treat them with respect and discretion,” he added. Some of the more common related disorders treated are kidney stones, kidney and bladder infections, incontinence, overactive bladder, enlarged prostate and prostate cancer, male infertility and sexual health. “More adults are enjoying healthy, more active lifestyles at all ages. Thankfully, public education and advertisement of available drug therapies has encouraged many people to seek beneficial treatment,” he stated. Dr. Gill believes health education is important. He regularly speaks at senior citizens centers, community groups and on local WANT radio.
Dr. Gill is the only board-certified urologist based in Wilson County, with offices located in front of University Medical Center. There you will be greeted by Dr. Gill’s warm smile and treated with his kind, compassionate manner. Dr. Gill and his 29 partners in Urology Associates, Tennessee’s largest group practice of urologists, treat patients at several area Middle Tennessee healthcare centers, including Summit Medical Center. Urology Associates also operates a state-of-the art diagnostic and outpatient surgery center in Nashville. Dr. Gill has previously served as Chief of Surgery and Chief of the Medical Staff at University Medical Center, where he regularly performs surgery and consults with patients. He is a member of numerous medical and professional associations.
A Middle Tennessee native, Dr. Gill graduated from Vanderbilt University with Bachelor of Arts Degrees in both English and Biology. He earned his medical degree at the University of Tennessee School of Medicine and completed his internship and residency at St. Louis University. Gill remarked, “I always enjoyed Science and English. I thought about going into law, but I was drawn more to medicine.”
That should be no surprise. He joined a family tradition, with uncles, a great-grandfather and his father being physicians. Dr. Gill is a “junior”, that is, he is the second Charles A. Gill, M.D. in the family, the senior being his father, who retired after serving many years as an OB/ GYN physician in Nashville.