After completing both his undergraduate and medical degrees at Georgetown University, Michael F. Richman, MD, received a coveted general surgery residency at the University of Southern California (USC) School of Medicine. Wanting to further his surgical career, he was invited to do a fellowship in cardiothoracic and vascular surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital at the University of Miami. He is board-certified in general surgery by the American Board of Surgery and also board-certified in cardiothoracic surgery by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. He is also a fellow in both The American College of Surgeons and the American College of Chest Physicians.
Having performed more than 1,000 cardiac bypass procedures throughout his career, Richman has always maintained a strong interest in the preventative aspect of cardiac care, namely cholesterol (lipid) management. Richman was the cholesterol expert on WebMD from 2005 to 2012 and is currently on WebMD’s Medical Review Board. He is also the national heart health examiner for The Examiner.com, and the medical expert to the nationally syndicated The Dennis Prager Show. He also is a published author in the field of lipidology and is on the editorial board of peer-reviewed journal The Journal of Clinical Lipidology, which is the official journal of The National Lipid Association.
As a long-standing member of the National Lipid Association, Richman started The Center for Cholesterol Management in August 2005 in order to focus exclusively on preventative care and management for those who may be at risk for cardiovascular disease. The center is the only free-standing facility in Southern California to deliver state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment of lipid disorders using advanced lipoprotein and comprehensive cardiovascular testing that quantitates the number of atherogenic lipoprotein particles to better identify and manage patients at risk for coronary heart disease. Richman is one of few heart surgeons with a practice dedicated to advanced lipoprotein testing and the prevention of heart disease. More information can be found at https://www.lipidcenter.com.
In late 2006, Richman opened the Elite Laser Vein Center in order to treat and provide the newest cutting-edge procedures to tackle the often misunderstood problem of venous disease. He is one of the few surgeons in the Los Angeles Area that performs endovenous laser ablations and has performed more than 500 of these procedures. His clinic also serves patients in need of wound care and venous ulcers and is the principal investigator in an IRB-approved clinical trial looking at the role of the MTHFR gene polymorphism contributes to venous disease and superficial thrombophlebitis.