About us

Dr. Joan Bregstein is a board-certified pediatric emergency medicine physician and a Professor of Pediatrics (in Emergency Medicine) at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She has more than 25 years of experience caring for acutely injured and critically ill children.
Dr. Bregstein’s primary academic interest is in access to care from a number of perspectives, including maximizing health equity by decreasing disparities, community outreach and public service and improving emergency department flow and patient experience. She has received a number of awards for her on-the-ground work with the communities of Washington Heights, Inwood and the South Bronx, including the Martha A. Hooven Award for Excellence in Community Service. Her work in narrative medicine reflects these interests. She is committed to guiding future and current physicians at all levels, which includes teaching medical students at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons and mentoring faculty as Chair of the Emergency Medicine Committee on Appointments and Promotions. She is involved nationally in the Academic Pediatric Association and is a top reviewer for a number of medical journals.
Dr. Bregstein is a graduate of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She completed her residency training in Pediatrics at the Babies Hospital, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, and fellowship training in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Jacobi Hospital, Bronx Municipal Hospital Center. She currently practices in the Pediatric Emergency Department at the NY Presbyterian-Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.