Steven Marc Friedman

Dr. Steven Marc Friedman is Attending Physician (Emergency Medicine) at University Health Network Emergency Medicine, Clinician Investigator at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, and Associate Professor, DFCM, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. He completed his medical training at the University of Toronto and McMaster University, and an MPH at Harvard University, where he focused on health care management and research methods.

Dr. Friedman is Director of STAR-EM, the Summer Teaching and Research in Emergency Medicine Program at University Health Network, Toronto. He was the founding Research Director of UHN Emergency Medicine. His scholarly work has been cited by Statistics Canada, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Dr. Friedman's core research interests and scholarly publications relate to barriers to care in the emergency department (ED), cycling safety and injury prevention, and using the emergency department as a platform to improving public health. The overarching operational aim of his work has been to develop an emergency medicine program that mentors young physician researchers in emergency medicine.

Research Synopsis

Projects relating to cycling safety and injury prevention have included a control-matched survey of Toronto bike-share users exploring cycling safety practices, barriers to helmet use, and impressions regarding proposed remedies to increase helmet use; a multi-centered collaboration exploration cycling injuries and the built environment; a quasi-experimental non-equivalent groups study designed to evaluate the health impacts of PBSPs (public bike share programs); a scoping review of non-legislative interventions to promote helmet use in adult cyclists; a trial to promote helmet use in injured cyclists using principles of behavioral economics; and an evidence-based review of Canadian cycling injuries and safety policy, leading to co-authorship of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians Position Paper on Cycling Safety.

The COVID-19 pandemic inspired him to undertake SAVE-CoV - a pilot study of saliva assay for viral examination of SARS-CoV-2, and to publish a scoping review of interventions to overcome limited supply of masks during epidemics that was downloaded over 8000 times. Dr. Friedman is Co-I and UHN Emergency Medicine Lead on GENCOV, which aims to identify patient factors which affect COVID-19 severity and outcomes. Dr. Friedman is Co-I and UHN Emergency Medicine Lead on the VIRCAN evaluation of birth cohort hepatitis C screening in emergency departments and high risk community settings in Toronto. He was Co-I and Emergency Medicine Lead on Seamless Care Optimizing the Patient Experience (SCOPE) – a multidisciplinary, primary care practice-based Intervention to reduce ED visits and hospitalization for complex patients.

Dr. Friedman’s research interests have also focused on quality and barriers to care in the emergency department (ED). Typical projects focusing on physician-related barriers to care have included a Canada-wide study of physician compliance with notifiable disease reporting requirements; a Canada-wide study of resident perceptions regarding personal on-call and procedural competence, adverse events and reporting these to supervisors; a study of interruptions and communication barriers in the emergency department; and clinical impact of discrepant diagnostic imaging reporting and reinterpretation. Patient-focused studies have explored patients who leave the ED without being seen; health-consumer perceptions regarding queue-jumping and preferential access; barriers to patient follow-up with specialty clinics after discharge from the ED; patient dignity and privacy in the ED; and patient comprehension and compliance with ED discharge instructions in a multicultural health setting.

Honours and Awards

Name:
Description:

2022 - Establishment of Annual Academic Award: Dr. Steven Friedman Research Excellence Award for Best Research Publication by a New Investigator. - Department of Emergency Medicine, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto

2020 -Top Education Innovation Abstract Award, Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP)

2015, 2018 - Individual Teaching Excellence Award in Undergraduate Education, Wightman-Berris Academy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

2008 - Award for Research Excellence (2007), Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

2002, 2005 -Nomination - Undergraduate Education Teaching Award - Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

1996 Elected Student Commencement Speaker, School of Public Health, Harvard University

Grants

1. 2020/06 – 2021/06 GENCOV - Implementation of Serological and Molecular Tools to Inform COVID-19 Patient Management. CIHR – Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Operating Grant. $ 2,067,198. Grant RN #: 424901. Principal Investigator: Taher, Jennifer. Co-Applicants: Borgundvaag, Bjug; Chertkow, Howard; Devine, Luke; Faghfoury, Hanna; Friedman, Steven; Gingras, Anne-Claude; Kulasingam, Vathany; Mazzulli, Tony; McGeer, Allison; McLeod, Shelley’ Pugh, Trevor; Richardson, David; Simpson, Jared; Strug, Lisa; Arnoldo, Saranya.

Role: Co-Applicant, ED site-lead for University Health Network in this multi-centre study.

2. 2020/4 –2021/4 SAVE-CoV - Saliva Assay for Viral Examination for SARS-CoV-2. Thistledown Foundation (Fast Grants). Operating Grant. Principal Applicant: Friedman, Steven Marc. Co-Applicant: Poutanen, Susan; Landes, Megan. $ 50,000

Role: Principal Investigator.

3. 2018/11 –2023/11 STAR-EM: Summer Training & Research in Emergency Medicine Program, University Health Network, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. Operating Grant. Principal Applicant: Friedman, Steven Marc $100,000 (five year term).

Role: Program Director, PI

4. 2018/11/1 Understanding Current Attitudes and Practices Around the Use of Regional Anesthesia in Canadian Emergency Departments: A Cross Sectional Study. UHN Emergency Department – Research Fund. Operating Grant. Principal Applicants: Friedman, Steven Marc; Ben-Yakov, Maxim $1,300.

Role: Co-Investigator and UHN ED Lead

5. 2017/03/18 Management of Subcutaneous Abscesses in the Emergency Department: National Survey of Practice Patterns and Review of Best Practices. UHN Emergency Department – Research Fund. Operating Grant. Principal Applicant: Friedman, Steven Marc. $1,300.

Role: Principal Investigator.

6. 2015/10/17 HEADSTRONG: Cycling Helmet Education, Advocacy, Distribution and Social Media Trial to Reduce Obstacles and Nudge Group Behaviour. Dr. Tom Pashby Sports Safety Fund. Operating Grant. Principal Applicant: Friedman, Steven Marc $10,000.

Role: Principal Investigator

7. 2013 /06/3-6 . Clinical Impact of Diagnostic Imaging Discrepancy by Radiology Trainees in an Urban Teaching Hospital Emergency Department. DFCM, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. Research Travel Grant. Principal Applicant: Friedman, Steven Marc Friedman. $1,000.

Role: SRA

8. SCOPE Study: Seamless Care to Optimize the Patient Experience (SCOPE) Funding source: Bridges Program – Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto & MOHLTC Type of Grant: Operating Grant Total amount: approx. $250,000/yr – two year duration Support period: 04/2012- 04/2014 Principal Applicant: Dr. Gillian Hawker (PI), Noah Ivers, Ross Baker. David Frost, Irfan Dhalla, Steven Marc Friedman

Role: Co-Investigator / Emergency Medicine Principle.

9. Implementation of the Canadian C-Spine Rule by Emergency Department Nurses Funding Source: CAHO - Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario Type of Grant: Operating Grant Total amount: $ 377,732 Support Period: 11/2010 - 11/2014 Principal Applicant: Ian Stiell MD, MSc and the CCR ARTIC Investigators Group

Role: Co-Investigator, UHN Emergency Medicine Principle

10. ACUTE Study: Acute Congestive Heart Failure Urgent and Transitional Care Evaluation Funding source: CIHR; HSFc Type of Grant: Operating Grant Total amount (requested): $662,188 Support period: 04/2011- 03/2014 Principal Applicant: Douglas S. Lee: Co-Investigator- University Health Network: Dr. Steven Friedman

Role: Collaborator and Site-director, UHN Emergency Medicine – for this multi-centered study.

11. Emergency Resident Perceptions Regarding Competence, Adverse Events and Reporting to Supervisors: A Nationwide Survey. Fifth Mediterranean Emergency Medicine Congress (MEMC V). Valencia, Spain Sept 16, 2009 Funding Agency: Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM), Faculty of Medicine, U of T Value: $ 1,500 Term: 2009 Type of Grant: Travel Grant

Role: Principle investigator.

12. Bicyclists' Injuries and the Cycling Environment (the BICE Study)

Funding Agency: Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and Canadian Institutes of Health Research Value: $ 579,000 Term: 2007 – 2010 Type of Grant: Operating Grant

Role: Co-investigator (Site-PI) for University Health Network