Karen Schugt Fremen

Biography

Karen Schugt Fremen, D.O., is HS Assistant Clinical Professor WOS in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine, and Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at Charles Drew University. She serves as Program Director of the Preliminary Medicine Program and Associate Program Director of the Internal Medicine Program at UC Irvine, while also working as an Academic Hospitalist in the Section of Hospital Medicine at the Long Beach VA Medical Center. Fremen completed her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2013 and her Internal Medicine Residency at UC Irvine, where she served as Chief Resident from 2016 to 2017.

Fremen has received multiple teaching awards throughout her career, including VA Attending of the Year in both 2021 and 2024, the UCI Golden Apple Award in 2024, and the VA Excellence in Education Award in 2022. During her residency training, she was recognized with the Gold Humanism Award in 2014 and Intern of the Year in 2013. As a medical student, she received the Student DO of the Year award in 2011 and was inducted into Sigma Sigma Phi Osteopathic Honors Society in 2010.

Fremen has been active in medical education since completing her residency, founding the Wellness Committee for the UCI Internal Medicine Residency in 2016 and serving as its faculty advisor. She chairs the Clinical Competence Committee for the UCI Internal Medicine Residency and has developed curricula in areas including diversity, equity, and inclusion, process improvement, and the medical student to intern transition. She has completed professional development programs including the Stanford Physician Wellbeing Director Course in 2021 and the Clinical Health and Wellbeing Fellowship Program in 2023.

Education

• B.S. in Biological Sciences, University of California Irvine, 2006
• M.S. in Gerontology, California State University, Long Beach, 2009
• D.O., Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, 2013

Distinctions

• American Osteopathic Foundation – Welch Scholars Grant, 2012
• AMSA Chapter Leadership Finalists, 2010-2011
• American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians – Osteopathic Clinical Research Award, 2010
• Sigma Sigma Phi Osteopathic Honors Society, 2010
• VA Attending of the Year, 2021, 2024
• VA Excellence in Education Award, 2022
• Student DO of the Year, 2011
• California Council on Geriatrics and Gerontology – Scholarship winner, 2010
• UCI Golden Apple Award, 2024
• Intern of the Year, 2013