Charles M Friel, MD
Colon and Rectal Surgery
Additional Locations
Bio & Overview
Dr. Friel is originally from Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Bowdoin College before going to Harvard University for his medical training. He did his general surgery training at the New England Deaconess Hospital as part of the Harvard Surgical Service. Dr. Friel then attended the University of Minnesota for his colon and rectal specialty training, which he completed in 2001. Dr. Friel then came to UVA in 2001 to work in the section of colon and rectal surgery. He is board certified in both general surgery and colon and rectal surgery.
He became Section Chief of Colorectal Surgery in 2007. He is also the Director of the General Surgery Residency Program.
Dr. Friel specializes in the treatment of colorectal conditions. He has a particular interest in the treatment of rectal cancer as well as inflammatory bowel disease, where he is recognized as a regional and national leader, being recently recognized as one of the"Best Doctors in America." He also specializes in minimally invasive approaches, including laparoscopy and colonoscopy.
Dr. Friel is a leader in medical education for both residents and medical students. He is the Associate Program Director of the General Surgical Residency and has been widely recognized for his teaching abilities. He recently received a national teaching award from the Association of Surgical Education. In addition to this honor, he has received multiple local awards from both the medical students and residents, including the Leonard Tow Humanism Award for how he deals with his patients and their complex problems.
Dr. Friel's research interests focus on the treatment of colon and rectal disease. He has published numerous manuscripts and book chapters on these subjects and currently sits on the editorial board of The Diseases of Colon and Rectum, the national journal for the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgery.
Dr. Friel also has expertise in treating:
- Hiatial hernia
Academic Information
- Department
- Surgery
- Academic Role
- Professor
- Division
- General Surgery
- Research Interests
- Colon and rectal surgery and diseases and medical education
- Gender
- Male
- Languages
- English
- Age Groups Seen
- Adults (21-65)
Older Adults (65+)
- Primary Education
- Harvard Medical School
- Residency
- University of Minnesota Medical Center
- Fellowships
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- Certification
- American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery (Colon and Rectal Surgery), American Board of Surgery (Surgery (General Surgery))
- Appointment
- Section Chief - Colorectal Surgery, Director - General Surgery Residency Program
Highlights
Meet Colorectal Surgeon Charles Friel, MD
My name's Charlie Friel and I'm a surgeon here at the University of Virginia and I do colon and rectal surgery. Largely, I got into medicine for the same reasons that lots of people get into medicine. It was an opportunity for me to use what I hoped my skillsets were. I enjoy working with people. I enjoy trying to make people feel better, and it just seemed like it was a good opportunity for me to take those two strengths of mine and apply them to the, hopefully, the health of our community. The type of patients I see at the University of Virginia are patients that have diseases of the colon or rectum, and that's a wide range of patients. It ranges from people with kind of minor problems from hemorrhoids and little infections of their bottom to really major problems with colon cancer and rectal cancer. There's also other benign diseases like ulcerative colitis and inflammatory bowl disease, diverticulitis. So, it's a wide range of patients but it's all related to either the colon or rectal area. It's very gratifying for me to be able to do an operation where I can take somebody who's struggling with something and then really improve the quality of their life. I have the opportunity to cure people of really difficult problems. I get to cure them of cancer, which is a pretty amazing thing, and I'm lucky to be a part of that process. I think the benefit to come to the University of Virginia for healthcare in general is that we have a breadth of people that are experts in their fields. Not only do you get potentially the expertise of me, for example, but you get all the expertise of my colleagues.
Awards
- 2014-2020 Best Doctors in America® List
Reviews
236 Patient Satisfaction Ratings
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