Providers / Rick W Snyder, MD, FACC

Rick Snyder, MD, FACC, is a board-certified cardiologist and president of HeartPlace. He is board certified in cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology and serves as Chief Physician Executive for US Heart & Vascular (USHV). 

Dr. Snyder was raised in the Dallas area. As a teen, he developed an interest in health care while working as an anesthesia technician in the operating room at Medical City Hospital during his high school and college summers.

Dr. Snyder joined the team at HeartPlace in 1996 and opened the satellite office at Medical City that same year. Though he is trained as an interventionist, Dr. Snyder prides himself on providing the highest-quality preventive care. He believes that risk-factor modification through diet and exercise can significantly reduce the risk of potentially serious issues like a heart attack or a stroke.

As a cardiologist, Dr. Snyder serves as an advocate for his patients. That advocacy extends to his work with legislative leaders at both the state and national levels. His work as a physician advocate allows Dr. Snyder to help a larger number of people.

“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. 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 at Medical City Dallas—where he also served as a member of the Board of Trustees—Dr. Snyder also served for three years on the Board of Governors for the American College of Cardiology in Washington, D.C., as well as president of the Texas Chapter. In 2012, Dr. Snyder served as president of the Dallas County Medical Society. For seven years, he served on the Dallas County Health and Human Services Public Health Advisory Council as the designee of the County Judge. Dr. Snyder recently completed his 2023–2024 term as president of the Texas Medical Association, traveling throughout the state representing its 60,000 members.

Currently, he is vice president of the American Independent Medical Practice Association (AIMPA), a physician-led national advocacy organization representing more than 600 independent medical practices and 12,000 physicians in 47 states. Dr. Snyder also currently serves as chairman of the board of directors for ASPEN Specialty Physician Independent Network, a clinically integrated network of 300 physicians in nine single-specialty groups in North Texas.

Dr. Snyder graduated in 1983 from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., and L’Université Catholique de l’Ouest in Angers, France (a Notre Dame foreign studies program), with a degree in French and pre-professional studies. In his free time, he enjoys relaxing with his wife, Shelley (who is also a cardiologist at HeartPlace), and their five children. Dr. Snyder remains an avid fan of the Fighting Irish and enjoys resistance training, medical advocacy, and Dallas Stars hockey.

Dr. Snyder is fluent in French and English.