Medical School
State University of New York Downstate Medical Center. Brooklyn, NY
Residency
Internal Medicine – University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital. Miami, FL
Fellowship
Nephrology – University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital. Miami, FL
Clinical Interests
Dr. Freya Silverstein became interested in the treatment of kidney diseases following the loss of a beloved grandparent to Polycystic Kidney Disease in the pre-dialysis era. Dr. Silverstein received her undergraduate and graduate medical education in a combined accelerated program at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with Departmental honors and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. She received the Horowitz-Hecht award for the best senior thesis.
Dr. Silverstein has been a trailblazer in the field of chronic dialysis care. She was the first female Nephrologist in the County. She treated patients in the area’s first high-flux dialysis unit.
Publications
During her fellowship, she published multiple papers on dialysis and on the physiological effects of water immersion (her research project).
Present and Past Positions
Dr. Silverstein has served on a variety of Palm Beach County hospital committees and was the Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Palms West Hospital for four years. She has been a Castle Connoll top United States Nephrologist for the last ten years and also a south Florida Super Doctor (a nationally recognized ranking system that identifies the top 5% of physicians in each state). In 2016, Dr. Silverstein was chosen to join the Fresenius Kidney Care Medical Advisory Board representing Florida nephrologists. She was appointed as the lead nephrologist for the Southeastern Leadership team in 2017.
More About Dr. Silverstein
Dr. Silverstein opened and became Medical Director of the Boynton Beach Dialysis clinic in 1997. This was the first dialysis clinic in Palm Beach County to feature in-facility exercise equipment in order to foster rehabilitation of dialysis patients. In 2002, she opened a second dialysis unit in North Boynton Beach and assumed the responsibilities of Medical Director. Seeing the need to be able to provide flexible, longer dialysis times to patients who wanted to continue working, she then opened the first nocturnal dialysis unit in the County. For her efforts in improving the care of renal patients, she was honored by the American Association of Kidney patients in 2003 receiving the Lisa Kleinman Award.
In order to provide patients in the Western communities a flexibility in their choice of dialysis modality. One of Dr. Silverstein’s primary goals has been to improve the quality of dialysis care by fostering patient empowerment through education.
The Wellington West Dialysis Unit was opened in 2016. This facility is a state of the art home and in-center dialysis clinic. It was constructed with hurricane impact windows and an on-site generator to be able to provide care to dialysis patients in the event of a major hurricane. In 2017, the clinic was utilized to treat dialysis patients evacuated to Florida from Puerto Rico, St. Croix, and St. Thomas in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Dr. Silverstein is now opening the county’s first Transitional Dialysis care unit in order to better treat patients with Acute Kidney injury and who are new to dialysis. Transitional Dialysis is a patient-centric approach to gently ease patients into dialysis therapy. The Wellington West clinic is participating in a national trial of this four week program.
