Brandon S. Friedman, MD

My name is Brandon Friedman and I am a PGY-1 resident in emergency medicine at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC. I earned my Doctorate of Medicine at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine, with a scholarly concentration in Clinician Leadership in Quality & Safety. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, with a concentration in Health Policy and Management. I am applying for the position of Resident Representative of the Global Emergency Medicine Academy Executive Committee.

 

I am a citizen of the United States that grew up in Asia – in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Thailand – from birth through my pre-undergraduate education, while my parents pursued careers that focused on mitigating the spread of global infectious diseases and combatting the practice of human trafficking. Enamored by the field of public health, I decided to pursue a career as an emergency physician and hoped to utilize my skills as a medical professional to further the development of sustainable healthcare initiatives abroad. I plan to pursue a fellowship in international emergency medicine post-residency and to dedicate my career to collaborating with international groups to develop sustainable community-driven healthcare programs and institutions in low-resource settings, abroad.

 

My background includes work with federally qualified health centers the United States and the Population and Community Development Association in Thailand. I have served in leadership roles in philanthropic organizations like Operation Smile, public-health-oriented student organizations in my medical school, and a medical-student-run free clinic at UNC. My research interests began with chromosome modeling and protein transport in the biological sciences, but have more recently focused on the intersection of health and human rights, as well as healthcare quality improvement in the Emergency Department setting. My most recent publication examines international human rights literature on the use of solitary confinement in prisons and the impact of this practice on the health of incarcerated persons. With this information, I compiled a series of recommendations for US legislative reform to better align our laws with those proposed by international governing bodies, to improve the wellbeing of incarcerated individuals. Throughout residency, I hope to pursue additional research with my institution’s faculty to develop and evaluate remote education resources for emergency medicine training programs in Tanzania.

 

I hope to have the opportunity to serve on the GEMA executive committee and dedicate my time to helping the committee further its goal of improving the provision of emergency care globally through its role in research, academics, and mentorship. I look forward to the opportunity to learn from other GEMA members and content area experts to build my own proficiency throughout the next several years and develop the skills necessary to contribute to the global emergency medicine community, through my participation in GEMA and beyond. I sincerely appreciate your time and consideration.