April Fredian, MD

I was born and raised in the Northeast, with a wonderful family who instilled in me the belief that anything is possible. Because of them, I believed in myself, and tried things I otherwise would not have tried. I joined an all-boys soccer team because there wasn’t one for girls, I ate liver and onions for dinner, I joined the volleyball team despite my short stature, I applied to top-tier colleges and wound up obtaining a BS in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

After college, I had trouble finding work in the field of biology, and took a job working the cash register at a fine wine and gourmet food store for several months. It was fun at first, but soon grew tiresome, and the itch for adventure overtook me. At the time, Amtrak had a deal: for a set fee, I could travel anywhere in the country for 30 days. I took them up on their generous offer, and, pillow and backpack in tow, hopped on the train. I visited friends in Washington DC, Winston-Salem North Carolina (where, by the way, you could still smoke in the grocery stores!), Arizona, Southern California, and lastly, San Francisco. It wasn’t until I reached the Bay Area that I felt at home. I lived here for nearly 6 years, working at Genentech, playing in a competitive pool league, making lifelong friends, and falling in love with the area.

Towards the end of my 6 years, though life was grand, I felt that career-wise I had stagnated. Life in the laboratory did not bring me enough of the human-interaction that I needed. It was at this time that a postcard from St George’s University School of Medicine graced my doorstep. It showed a beautiful school atop a magnificent cliff overlooking turquoise water, and, needless to say, I took it as a sign. I spent the first two years of medical school on the islands of Grenada and St Vincent, where I learned a great deal of patience, living on ‘island time’. My two clinical years were then spent at The Brooklyn Hospital alongside Cornell students, after which I graduated from medical school summa cum laude. I then went to Brown University in Rhode Island for my residency in Family Medicine, followed by 3 1/2 years working with a wonderful group of clinicians at Bayside Medical Group prior to embarking on this new endeavor.

As the first doctor in my family, I wasn’t sure what I was in for, but I’ve found that Family Medicine really is the perfect career for me. It allows me to listen to people’s stories, care for newborns and 101 year-olds, teach people about themselves, and help them take better control of their lives by helping them also to believe that truly, anything is possible.

I look forward to meeting you and your family, and hope to know you for years to come.

April