The American College of Surgeons is dedicated to improving the care of the surgical patient and to safeguarding standards of care in an optimal and ethical practice environment.
Dr. Richard Harding has been an American College of Surgeons Fellow since 1998.
The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is a scientific and educational association of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to improve the quality of care for the surgical patient by setting high standards for surgical education and practice. The American College of Surgeons is dedicated to improving the care of the surgical patient and to safeguarding standards of care in an optimal and ethical practice environment.
Members of the ACS are referred to as "Fellows." The letters FACS (Fellow, American College of Surgeons) after a surgeon's name mean that the surgeon's education and training, professional qualifications, surgical competence, and ethical conduct have passed a rigorous evaluation, and have been found to be consistent with the high standards established and demanded by the College.
Attending the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress events in Boston, Dr. Harding is delighted to reconnect with residents that he has trained over the years as well as many colleagues from the professional organizations he is a member of.
Dr. Harding has taught residents in his role as
Associate Professor in Surgery, Creighton University School of Medicine,
Assistant Professor of Surgery, University of Arizona College of Medicine, and
trainings he has provided on Thyroid Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA).
In addition to being a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Harding is also a member of other surgery organizations including
Dr. Harding has dedicated a large part of his practice to endocrine surgery. He has performed over 2000 endocrine operations for adrenal, thyroid and parathyroid conditions. He is active in the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons. He is the first surgeon in the Southwest to perform a Transoral Endoscopic Thyroidectomy, which has the benefit of leaving no visible surgical scar. He is very familiar with the latest treatment guidelines for both thyroid and parathyroid diseases. He now also performs a Laparoscopic posterior adrenalectomy which significantly decreases recovery time for adrenal surgery conditions. For patients' convenience, many diagnostic tests and minor procedures can be performed in his office, including diagnostic ultrasound, ultrasound lymph node mapping, and ultrasound guided thyroid nodule biopsies.
Dr. Harding also treats simple and complex hernias, gallbladder disease, colon cancer, diverticulitis, and gastroesophageal reflux conditions. He performs many abdominal wall reconstructions in patients who have complex hernia conditions, usually resulting from prior surgical procedures or prior failed ventral hernia repairs.
Richard J. Harding, MD has been evaluating and removing hundreds of thyroid glands per year for the past twenty-eight years. He is very pleased to introduce a non-surgical treatment for large benign thyroid nodules. This new method applies internal energy to the thyroid nodules to effectively destroy problematic tissue without injuring the healthy outer thyroid gland.
