Sarah A. Friedrich, D.O., M.B.A., M.S.
Candidate for Resident-Fellow Member Trustee-Elect (RFMTE)
A Message from the Candidate
Biography
Sarah Friedrich, D.O., M.B.A, M.S., is a PGY-3 and chief resident at Jefferson Health’s Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA who plans to pursue a fellowship in forensic psychiatry following completion of residency. Following graduation from the University of Florida, Dr. Friedrich worked as an archaeologist. While working on an excavation in South Africa examining the development of anatomically modern human’s cognition processes,, she chose to pursue a medical career. Dr. Friedrich discovered her passion for psychiatry after joining the APA in 2017.
Dr. Friedrich has extensive experience in healthcare advocacy and held several national leadership positions. In medical school, she served on the Board of Trustees for the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA) for three years: first as Region Trustee, then as Vice President, and later as Speaker of the House. In these roles, she represented the interest of over 31,000 osteopathic medical students nation-wide and advocated on their behalf as a delegate of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and the American Medical Association’s Medical Student Section (AMA-MSS). As a resident physician, she served as the representative on the AOA’s Bureau of International Osteopathic Medicine, where she collaborated with other leaders around the world to promote osteopathic medicine and explore global health challenges.
She is well versed in policy creation and has co-authored numerous resolutions for presentation at the SOMA House of Delegates, AOA House of Delegates, AMA-MSS, and the Pennsylvania Medical Society House of Delegates spanning topics from raising awareness of human trafficking in hospital settings, wide-scale NARCAN training for medical students, mitigating resident fatigue, making board exams pass/fail, increasing access to contraceptives for women on inpatient psychiatric units, among many others.
Upon entering residency, Dr. Friedrich’s passion for healthcare advocacy focused more on psychiatry and its subspecialties. She is currently in her second term as a resident representative for the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society and Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society, where she continues to work on increasing resident engagement within the profession, as well as promoting awareness on pertinent healthcare issues.
Currently, Dr. Friedrich serves as chief resident in her program. Her hard work and commitment to improving her program and the resident experience as an intern and PGY-2 were recognized by her peers, leading to her nomination and election as chief resident as a PGY-3. It is her goal to bring that same energy and dedication to the APA as the Resident-Fellow Trustee-Elect.
Education
- Chief Resident, Jefferson Health-Albert Einstein Medical Center (2022-2023)
- Psychiatric Residency, Jefferson Health-Albert Einstein Medical Center (2020-2024)
- Doctor of Osteopathy, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (2020)
- Master of Business Administration, Saint Joseph’s University (2017)
- Master of Science (Concentration in Forensic Medicine), Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (2014)
- Bachelor of Arts (Anthropology), University of Florida (2011)
Awards and Honors
- Benjamin and Mary Siddons Measey Foundation Scholarship (2017)
- Saint Joseph’s University Haub School of Business MBA Merit Scholar (2016)
- Student Osteopathic Medical Association New Member Scholarship (2014)
- PCOM Alumni Scholarship (2013, 2014, 2015)