Melissa Freeman

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Melissa Freeman
EducationHigh School of Music & Art
Alma materHunter College Howard University College of Medicine
EmployerBeth Israel Hospital

Melissa Freeman (born April 1926[1]) is a Bronx-born physician based at the Beth Israel Medical Center.

Education[edit]

Freeman's grandfather was born a slave in the 1850s, and was a teenager when the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.[2] Freeman grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.[3] She attended High School of Music & Art, where she most enjoyed physiology and social work. She graduated Howard University College of Medicine in 1955, where she attended night classes and worked several day jobs.[2] She was one of only 4 women in a class of 150 students.[4]

Career[edit]

Freeman completed an internship at Kings County Hospital Center and a residency at Nassau University Medical Center.[2] She began practicing medicine in 1961.[5] Working with Vincent Dole and Marie Nyswander, she developed the use of methadone to treat heroin addiction.[2] She was one of the first doctors to treat women using methadone maintenance.[6][4] She set up her own internal medicine practice in Harlem in 1981.

She has worked at Beth Israel Hospital for over 50 years.[7] She runs a methadone maintenance program in New York, and mentors young doctors.[8][9][10]

She inspired Valentin Bonilla Jr, Chief Physician Assistant at the Mount Sinai Beth Israel Opioid Treatment Program, to pursue a career in medication-assisted treatment.[11]

Personal life[edit]

Freeman is Catholic.[12][13]

References[edit]

  1. ^ ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hbz0BeXP15I
  2. ^ a b c d "A granddaughter of a slave is on the front lines of the opioid epidemic". Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  3. ^ Eyewitness News ABC7NY (2018-02-12), Black History Month profile: Dr. Melissa M. Freeman, retrieved 2018-04-07{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b Iris (2018-03-09), Meet the 91-Year-Old Doctor Who's the Granddaughter of Slaves | Iris, retrieved 2018-04-07
  5. ^ "Black History Month profile: Dr. Melissa M. Freeman". ABC7 New York. 2018-02-02. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  6. ^ Joseph, Herman; Woods, Joycelyn (2006-12-01). "In the Service of Patients: The Legacy of Dr. Dole". Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems. 8.
  7. ^ "MELISSA FREEMAN | Mount Sinai - New York". Mount Sinai Health System. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  8. ^ Fernandez, Manny (2007-12-09). "Opening Young Eyes to a Prize: a Career in Medicine". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  9. ^ "News and Events - Recovery in Harlem: Health, Medical and Recovery from Drugs and Alcohol Services from CREATE, Inc. in Harlem". www.createinc.org. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  10. ^ "Our Health, Our History". AHHE.ORG. 2018-01-22. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  11. ^ "An Interview with Valentin Bonilla Jr". Opioid Treatment Providers of Georgia. 2016-09-13. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  12. ^ Strong Catholic faith, family history of Dr. Freeman - EWTN News Nightly, retrieved 2021-07-05
  13. ^ Flynn, Colm (2020-06-16). "94-Year-Old Doctor, Granddaughter of a Slave, Continues to Inspire". National Catholic Register. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
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