Rick W. Snyder, MD, FACC
President
"Dr. Rick Snyder is a board-certified cardiologist and President of HeartPlace, and serves as Chief Physician Executive for US Heart & Vascular (USHV). He is board certified in cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology.
Raised in the Dallas area, Dr. Snyder developed an early interest in healthcare while working as an anesthesia technician at Medical City Hospital during high school and college summers. He joined HeartPlace in 1996 and opened the practice's Medical City satellite office that same year. Though trained as an interventionist, he prides himself on delivering the highest-quality preventive care, believing that risk-factor modification through diet and exercise can significantly reduce the risk of serious events like heart attack and stroke.
Dr. Snyder is also a nationally recognized physician advocate. ""We physicians can have just as much impact on the health care our patients receive through our work in boardrooms, legislative chambers, and regulatory offices as we do in exam rooms and operating rooms,"" he has said. ""As clinicians, we treat one patient at a time, but as physician advocates, we can help a whole county, state, and country all at once.""
A former president of the medical staff and Board of Trustees member at Medical City Dallas, Dr. Snyder has served three years on the American College of Cardiology's Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., and as President of its Texas Chapter. He served as President of the Dallas County Medical Society in 2012 and spent seven years on the Dallas County Health and Human Services Public Health Advisory Council. He recently completed his 2023–2024 term as President of the Texas Medical Association, representing its 60,000 members across the state.
He currently serves as Vice President of the American Independent Medical Practice Association (AIMPA), a physician-led national advocacy organization representing more than 600 independent practices and 12,000 physicians in 47 states. He is also Chairman of the Board of ASPEN Specialty Physician Independent Network, a clinically integrated network of 300 physicians across nine single-specialty groups in North Texas.
Dr. Snyder graduated in 1983 from the University of Notre Dame and L'Université Catholique de l'Ouest in Angers, France, with a degree in French and pre-professional studies. He is fluent in French and English. Outside of work, he enjoys time with his wife Shelley (also a cardiologist at HeartPlace) and their five children, and remains an avid fan of the Fighting Irish, resistance training, medical advocacy, and Dallas Stars hockey."
