Dr. Friedman is the son of a physician and surgeon. While a freshman in high school he began studying from his father's medical library. In 1974 (11th grade), he began reading The New England Journal of Medicine for which he has been a continuous subscriber. Dr. Friedman knew then that he wanted to study Internal Medicine (the treatment and diagnosis of disease in adults) and eventually enter the private practice of medicine.
Attending University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Dr. Friedman graduated with honors receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biological Sciences in 1979. His core majors focused on biochemistry and molecular biology. He worked in clinical hypertension research at UCLA-Cedars Sinai during his last year in college.
Medical School:
While at UCLA he became interested in lipid metabolism and hypertensive cardiovascular diseases. Dr. Friedman applied and was accepted as an out of state resident into the very competitive University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSD), Southwestern Medical School at Dallas, Texas. At that time as well as now, UT Southwestern had an international reputation in lipid disorders and diabetes. The UT Southwestern Medical Center is one of the worlds foremost biomedical and clinical research institutions with four active Noble laureates, more than any other medical school in the world, 17 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 19 members of the Institute of Medicine and 14 members of the American Academy of Arts and Science. (In 1985, two years after he graduated from medical school, Southwestern Medical School physician-researchers Joseph Goldstein, M.D., and Michael Brown, M.D., shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine for their work in molecular genetics and discovery of the LDL Receptor blocker. This directly led to the development of Lovastatin (Mevacor®), the first Statin class of drugs with other statins to follow such as pravastatin (Pravachol®), Simvastatin (Zocor®), Aatorvastatin (Lipitor®), Rosuvastatin (Crestor®). This novel class of medicines has dramatically improved the cardiovascular outcomes of millions of patients worldwide.
Dr. Friedman's academic years (the first 2 years of medical school) as well as his clinical rotations in the medical and surgical specialties at Parkland Hospital and the Dallas VA Hospital (the last 2 years of medical school) were very successful and exciting. While in medical school Dr. Friedman was awarded two pre-doctoral fellowships through the National Institute of Mental Health working with John Rush, M.D., a pioneer in biological psychiatry/affective disorders and in the Psychiatric Emergency Unit at Parkland Hospital.
At the end of medical school Dr. Friedman was benchmarked in the 90th percentile on the national board exam in medicine. He graduated in the upper 18th percentile from his medical school class of 207 graduates. After sitting for the medical licenser exam in Austin, Texas June 1983, he moved to Arizona to begin his post-Graduate training.
Post-Graduate Training in Internal Medicine:
Completing Dr. Friedman's internship in 1984 at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center and Veterans Administration Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, he went on to complete his residency in Internal Medicine at Phoenix St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center/Veterans Administration Medical Center in June of 1986. At the time, Phoenix was the nation's 10th largest city and these programs offered a great internal medicine training environment. Dr. Friedman ranked excellent on the American Board of Internal Medicine exam and became board certified as a Diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine in September 1986.
Private Practice in Internal Medicine:
In September 1986, his private practice, Adult Internal Medicine of North Scottsdale, was launched. He served as Assistant Medical Director for the Mercy Care Clinic at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona for the first six months until his North Scottsdale practice and the Scottsdale Osborn and Shea emergency rooms and hospitals demanded his full time.