Who We Are
Matthew Abendroth, DO
Dr. Matthew Abendroth is a quadruple board-certified physician who founded Abendroth Modern Medicine to provide proactive, preventive, and highly personalized care that helps patients optimize health, performance, and longevity.
Dr. Abendroth has practiced outpatient medicine in Des Moines, first at UnityPoint Clinic in Urbandale as a family physician, then at his own Direct Primary Care clinic, Sana Vita Health. He also co-founded a medical staffing agency called Highland Provider Staffing, through which he continues to work as an Emergency Medicine physician and hospitalist in critical access hospitals across the state. He has seen countless examples of the consequences of suboptimal lifestyle choices, often culminating in life-changing (or life-ending) medical emergencies.
His growing frustration with the limits of traditional, reactive-only sick-care medicine led him to pursue advanced training in lifestyle, integrative, and functional medicine—fields that allow a deeper focus on prevention, root-cause healing, health optimization, and the promotion of healthy longevity.
Outside the clinic, Dr. Abendroth enjoys time with his family, strength training, cooking, and manual transmission sports cars, which, like his clinic, favor precision, performance, and connection.
Board Certifications
American Board of Family Medicine
American Board of Lifestyle Medicine
American Board of Integrative Medicine
The Institute for Functional Medicine
Education
Bachelor of Science
The Evergreen State College
Olympia, Washington
Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine
Des Moines University
Des Moines, Iowa
Family Medicine Residency
Iowa Lutheran Family Medicine
Des Moines, Iowa
Integrative Medicine Fellowship
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Memberships
American Academy of Family Physicians
Iowa Academy of Family Physicins
American College of Lifestyle Medicine
The Institute for Functional Medicine
American Academy for Anti-Aging Medicine
American Nutrition Association
Melissa Abendroth, BFA, RN, NBC-HWC
Melissa Abendroth blends a background in fine arts with a deep commitment to health and healing. After graduating from the University of Iowa with a BFA, she worked as a doula supporting women through childbirth before becoming a registered nurse.
She later trained in health coaching at both the Mayo Clinic and Wellcoaches, becoming a Nationally Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coach and was the health coach at Sana Vita Health. At Abendroth Modern Medicine, she serves as the in-house Health Coach, helping patients turn intentions into action by setting and achieving meaningful healthspan-oriented goals.
Melissa also leads the clinic’s aesthetics service, where her artistic eye helps patients achieve enhanced, natural-looking results through evidence-based, minimally invasive treatments. She is currently pursuing her nurse practitioner degree at Allen College in Waterloo, Iowa, after which she will join Dr. Abendroth in direct patient care, focusing on women’s health, perimenopause, menopause, and hormone replacement therapy. She currently assists Dr. Abendroth with our Women’s Health & BHRT Program, which she will take over in 2027.
Outside of work, Melissa enjoys spending time with her family, cooking nutrient-rich meals, gardening, traveling, and spending time in nature — all passions she brings to life in her coaching.