Dr. John T. Friedland, M.D., F.A.A.O.S
ORTHOPEDIC & SPINE SURGEON
- Fellow, American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons
- Diplomate, American Board of Orthopedic Surgery
- Fellowship Trained, Orthopedic Spine Surgery
Dr. Friedland was born in San Antonio, Texas. He graduated high school from John Marshall High School in the early 1980’s. He attended Trinity University in San Antonio for two years, before completing the 4 year curriculum at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. While at West Point, he earned the coveted U.S. Army Parachute Badge at the Airborne School in Fort Benning, Georgia.
After West Point, Dr. Friedland served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He spent time in Honduras, Central America, as well as southern Colorado and the National Training Center in California. He then attended the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. During his senior year in medical school, he completed the U.S Air Force Aerospace Medicine Primary Course (Flight Surgeon). The highlight of that experience was piloting a T-37 jet trainer at Randolph Air Force Base. After graduation from medical school, he completed his internship at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio, also completing hyperbaric training at Brooks Air Force Base. He was then assigned to Germany as a flight surgeon, as the medical advisor to the commander of the Department of Defense Confinement Facility and running a troop medical clinic in Mannheim, Germany.
He returned to San Antonio in 1996 and completed a residency in Orthopedics at Brooke Army Medical Center. During his rotation at Children’s Hospital in Denver, Dr. Friedland met Courtney Brown, M.D., President of the Scoliosis Research Society from 1998-1999 and applied for his fellowship in Spinal Surgery. After residency, Dr. Friedland completed his fellowship in spinal deformity surgery in Denver, Colorado in 2001 and was asked to return to San Antonio. He served as Chief of the Orthopedic Spinal Surgery at BAMC from 2001 to 2004.
After becoming Board Certified by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery, he returned to Germany in 2004 at the request of the Consultant to the U.S. Army Surgery General to assist in the care of wounded soldiers medically evacuated from Afghanistan and Iraq, managing all extremity trauma injured soldiers, sailors and airmen returning to the U.S. as well as U.S. contractors and coalition forces transported to Germany. He was personally involved in the care of over a thousand injured patients.
In 2006, he returned to the U.S. briefly, assigned as the Chief of the Department of Surgery at Fort Campbell, KY, the home of the storied 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), before deploying to Iraq with the 31st Combat Support Hospital as the Chief of Surgery for U.S. forces, coalition forces and Iraqi detainees at Camp Bucca, Iraq in 2007. While at Camp Bucca, he earned a Bronze Star, mostly related to his leadership during a rocket attack on his compound that injured approximately 80 Iraqi detainees in a mass casualty situation.
He is also very proud of the Navy Achievement Medal he received during this joint assignment. After returning to Fort Campell, Dr. Friedland left military service after over 25 years wearing the uniform of a soldier. He maintained a practice in Kentucky and Tennessee from 2008-2011 before returning home to San Antonio. He practiced for one year with a large Orthopedic practice until joining Dr. Steven Cyr, M.D. and the Orthopedic and Spine Institute in early 2013. Dr. Friedland enjoys treating patients with spinal degenerative diseases as well as acute injuries. He wholeheartedly endorses a conservative, non-operative approach whenever possible. He is active in the Society of Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery (SMISS) and a fellow in the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery. He enjoys a variety of outdoor activities with his three sons.
