Michael R. Freedman, MD
Dr. Freedman was born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland. After graduating from Springbrook High School, he moved to Ann Arbor and received his Bachelor of Sciences from the University of Michigan majoring in psychology and biology. He subsequently earned a Masters in Physiology from Georgetown University before enrolling at Hahnemann University Medical School in Philadelphia (now Drexel University) While there, he led a group which built the largest student-run medical system for the homeless in the country. The Hahnemann Homeless Clinics Project was awarded the 809th Daily Point of Light by then-President George Bush.
On graduation from Med School, he also received the following awards: The Daniel Mason Award for Excellence in Cardiology; The Hahnemann Club Award for Academic Excellence, Outstanding Leadership and Loyalty; The Joseph A. Langbord Memorial Prize for Humanitiarism in Medicine; and The Student Affairs Committee Award for Outstanding Service to the Class, the University and the Community.
Dr. Freedman was accepted by his first choice for residency training in Internal Medicine and Primary Care at Emory University in Atlanta. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine and Primary Care in 3 years, receiving letters of recommendation from some of the most respected physicians in medicine. In 1997, he became Board Certified in Internal Medicine and moved to Annapolis to join Annapolis Internal Medicine. He has a special interests in Cardiology, Geriatrics and preventive/general wellness — both physical and mental.
Shortly after moving to Annapolis, he joined a small group of physicians who were providing primary care to the residents of the Lighthouse Shelter. This group, founded by Rich Bernstein, MD and Rich Colgan, MD, had recently begun seeing patients one afternoon per week on Clay and Washington street. Dr. Freedman was asked to assume the position of Medical Director. While with the Annapolis Outreach Clinic, Dr. Freedman personally grew the number of participating physicians from roughly 12 to well over 150. The clinic only included primary care doctors but Dr. Freedman added GYN and women’s services, Pediatric clinics, Psychiatric services, Orthopedic and Neurologic clinics, Dermatology clinic and many others. He arranged for free Radiology services through Anne Arundel Diagnostics–including CT scans and MRIs. He got AAMC to agree to donate surgical OR time for free and was able to convince the Department of Anesthesia to donate all of their time to surgery. He found members of the Surgical services including Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, General Surgery and others to donate up to 10 surgeries per month for free. Patient are able to be referred to any specialty at AAMC and be seen free of charge now. In 2007-2008, the demand for the clinic, which by then had relocated to a permanent position at the Stanton Center on Washington Street, was outstripping the space available in the building. He found more and more doctors who wanted to volunteer their time and with over 6,500 patient visits per year, he decided that another location was necessary. He and Bill West, who had become a close working ally, after many long arduous attempts, were able to convince AAMC to open a 2nd location which is now a Medicaid-type clinic located on Forest Drive. In 2006, working alongside Neil Sullivan, they opened a Dental Clinic upstairs from the medical clinic. In fall 2011, Dr. Freedman stepped down from this leadership position to focus on his personal practice, running Annapolis Internal Medicine and raising his son. For a nice article outlining his Outreach work, click here:http://www.insideannapolis.com/archive/2004/issue5/makingadifference.html
While at Annapolis Internal Medicine and working full time as a Primary Care physician, Dr. Freedman served as the Practice Administrator for over 10 years. He was privileged to build a loyal following of patients, many of whom he developed a very close, personal relationship with. He also was extremely well respected by the Specialist of Anne Arundel Medical Center and cared for many of the doctors, nurses and other staff from AAMC. As a result, his practice grew immensely. In addition to the above, he also served on the following committees: AAMC Medical Executive Board Strategic Planning Committee, AAMC Medical Executive Board Community Needs Assessment Committee, AAMC Information Technology Advisement Committee, and AAMC’s Strategic Physician Synergy group.
In 2007, Dr. Freedman re-certified for the American Board of Internal Medicine. In August of 2012, he went on sabbatical for personal reasons and in October 2013, he re-certified for the ABIM again.
Since early 2013 he has been using his years of experience, both clinical and managerial, to develop what he believes is the next generation of primary and urgent care. In 2014, he opened Evolve Direct Primary Care.