Professor of Surgery

Dr. Richards is the medical director of the Vanderbilt Center for Surgical Weight Loss. He has performed thousands of laparoscopic surgical procedures since 1990 and has been performing laparoscopic bariatric surgery since 2000. He is a member of the  American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS)  and on the Governing Board of the Society of Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES).

Dr. Richards is Professor of Surgery in the Division of General Surgery at Vanderbilt Medical Center. He received his M.D. from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1979. He completed his internship at the University of Florida in 1980 and served his residency at the University of Maryland Hospital from 1980 to 1984. Dr. Richards pursued fellowship training at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia from 1984 to 1985 in the field of Portal Hypertension and Endoscopy. He then conducted research as a Research Associate in Gastrointestinal Motility from 1986 - 1987 at Vanderbilt Medical Center/Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Nashville. He was appointed to Vanderbilt Medical Center as Assistant Professor of Surgery in 1985. He was named the Director of Laparoscopic Surgery at Vanderbilt in 1990.

Publications
Dr. Richards has published 7 book chapters, 64 peer-reviewed journal publications, over 100 abstracts, 8 conference proceedings, and 2 video presentations. Review his published abstracts on PubMed.

CV
Dr. Richards' CV is available in PDF format.

Contact
William O. Richards, M.D.
Vanderbilt Medical Center
D-5219 Medical Center North
Nashville, TN 37232-2577
Phone: (615) 322-7555; Fax: (615) 343-9485
E-mail: bill.richards@vanderbilt.edu