Richard Joel Friedman, MD

Richard J. Friedman, M.D. FRCSC, is chief of shoulder and elbow surgery and professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, and an adjunct professor of bioengineering at Clemson University. He was formerly the chairman of the department of orthopaedic surgery and medical director of the joint replacement program at Roper Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina.

Dr. Friedman received his M.D. degree in 1980 from the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine and completed residencies in surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and in orthopedic surgery at the Harvard combined orthopedic residency program in Boston. He also completed a clinical fellowship in surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore as well as clinical fellowships in surgery and orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Dr. Friedman is board certified in orthopedic surgery.

A former member of the North American and International Hip and Knee Registry steering committees as well as a former consultant to the orthopedic device review panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Friedman is a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American College of Surgeons, and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and a member of the American Orthopaedic Association, Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons, and European Society for Surgery of the Shoulder and Elbow, among others. He is a reviewer for Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, and Journal of Knee Surgery. Dr. Friedman also serves on the American Medical Association CPT advisory committee as well as the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons CPT coding committee.

Dr. Friedman was the founder of the orthopaedic research laboratory at MUSC and has received over 50 research grants. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific articles in such journals as the New England Journal of Medicine, Orthopedic Clinics of North America, Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, Journal of Orthopaedic Research. Dr. Friedman has also written numerous book chapters and had over 150 scientific abstracts published. He has presented nationally and internationally at over 500 medical conferences. Dr. Friedman's special areas of interest focus on total joint replacement, including hip, knee, shoulder, and elbow; shoulder and elbow disorders and sports medicine; and arthroscopic surgery.