Rigved Tadwalkar, MD

Rigved Tadwalkar, MD Consultative Cardiologist, Director of Digital Transformation, and Partner at Pacific Heart Institute, Medical Creator & Entrepreneur. News & World Report, L.A.

I provide a range of non-invasive & invasive diagnostics as well as conventional & novel therapies. Dr. Rigved Tadwalkar is a Consultative Cardiologist and Partner at the Pacific Heart Institute, where he holds multiple Directorship roles including Cardiac Rehabilitation, Pericardial Disease, Digital Transformation, and Media & Engagement, while also leading other strategic initiatives. A Fellow o

f the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Physicians, he is Board-Certified in Cardiovascular Disease, Echocardiography, Cardiovascular CT, Nuclear Cardiology, and Internal Medicine. He provides a full spectrum of non-invasive and invasive diagnostics and as well as conventional and novel therapies, and additionally offers concierge care through an Enhanced Access program. As a Clinical Investigator, he contributes to several major research trials. His interests span the cardiovascular spectrum, with emphasis on multimodality imaging, interventional echocardiography, diagnostic catheterization, and cardiometabolic health. He is also actively engaged in practice management, medical education, speaking, social media, and marketing. Dr. Tadwalkar is an emerging voice in the field, featured by leading outlets such as ABC, U.S. Times, Netflix, Inside Edition, WebMD, and Healthgrades. He serves on the Forbes Health Advisory Board and the Medical Review Board of Prevention Magazine. He has been named to the Super Doctors “Rising Stars” list, recognized annually as a Top Doctor by Los Angeles Magazine, and included in Castle Connolly’s Top Doctors. A trusted consultant and speaker for industry, he plays a key role in shaping the future of healthcare. Dr. Tadwalkar received his M.D. from The George Washington University, M.S. in Physiology & Biophysics from Georgetown University, and B.A. in Biological Sciences & Sociology from the University of Southern California. He completed Internship and Residency in Internal Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the West Los Angeles VA, followed by a faculty appointment as Clinical Instructor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He pursued fellowship at Harbor-UCLA, earning multiple awards including the Excellence in Cardiology Fellowship Award from the Cardiovascular Research Foundation of Southern California, and served as Chief Cardiology Fellow in his final year of training, managing program operations.

AACVPR certified 🎉A lot goes into earning this designation. Clinical standards, safety, outcomes, documentation, and a t...
08/25/2026

AACVPR certified 🎉

A lot goes into earning this designation. Clinical standards, safety, outcomes, documentation, and a team willing to sweat the details every single day.

Very proud of what our cardiac rehab team has built, and all the work it took to get us across the finish line.

Pacific Heart Institute
Providence health system

I’ve been thinking a lot about exercise lately, not only as a cardiologist, but in the context of my own life.I was acti...
08/20/2026

I’ve been thinking a lot about exercise lately, not only as a cardiologist, but in the context of my own life.

I was active nearly every day in high school, and then college came along and that part of me more or less disappeared. What followed were years of medical training and career-building, with exercise repeatedly becoming something I assumed I could always return to later.

It took me a surprisingly long time to understand how much I regretted that.

There is an interesting contradiction in medicine and other demanding careers. We can be incredibly disciplined about our work while allowing some of the most basic things that sustain us to become inconsistent. I understand that much better now, both personally and through what I see every day in cardiology and cardiac rehabilitation.

I wrote about that tension, the years in between, and why exercise feels very different to me now in my 40s. I suspect a lot of people who have spent years chasing the next milestone will recognize some part of it.

My latest piece is in my newsletter, Second Opinions, linked here:
https://rvtmd.substack.com/p/my-biggest-regret-i-stopped-exercising

A personal reflection on college, medicine, getting older, and finding my way back to something I probably never should have left.

The real opportunity with oral PCSK9 inhibition may be bigger than convenience. Lipfendra creates the possibility of sub...
08/13/2026

The real opportunity with oral PCSK9 inhibition may be bigger than convenience. Lipfendra creates the possibility of substantial additional LDL lowering while keeping therapy entirely oral, which could change how readily we intensify treatment in patients who remain above goal on what they are already taking.

“Most participants were already taking moderate- or high-intensity statin therapy, sometimes along with another cholesterol medication. Lipfendra could therefore be used with these or other treatments when a patient needs more LDL lowering. It would still be used alongside a heart-healthy diet and regular exercise, not as a substitute for them,” Rigved Tadwalkar, MD, FACC of the Pacific Heart Institute explained to Medical News Today.

Full article here:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-does-new-anti-cholesterol-pill-lipfendra-compare-statins-cardiologist-answers-5-key-questions

Recently, the FDA has approved an oral PCSK9 inhibitor, Lipfendra, for the treatment of high cholesterol. A cardiologist explains how it compares to statins, who this treatment is for, and why.

08/12/2026

Many people don’t realize this, but your blood pressure reading can be affected by what you’re doing right before you take it.

Factors that can affect your numbers:
-Talking
-Crossing your legs
- Checking immediately after walking around
- Not sitting quietly for a few minutes beforehand
- Not supporting your arm at heart level
- Using the wrong cuff size
- Having a full bladder

For a more accurate reading, sit quietly for about 5 minutes, keep your feet flat on the floor, support your arm at heart level, and stay quiet while the monitor is running.

It’s a small change that can make your numbers much more precise.

We spend a lot of time blaming people for what they eat and much less time asking why eating well became so much harder ...
08/10/2026

We spend a lot of time blaming people for what they eat and much less time asking why eating well became so much harder in the first place.

I wrote about how portions, processing, convenience, and culture reshaped the way Americans eat, what that means clinically, and why the South Asian experience deserves a little more attention within that larger story.

https://rvtmd.substack.com/p/the-food-system-changed-and-our-arteries

If you like longer-form takes at the intersection of cardiovascular medicine, health, and culture, you can subscribe to Second Opinions while you’re there.

How America’s food environment changed, why some bodies pay a higher price, and why a new generation is finally pushing back

08/06/2026

This reel bothered me enough that I had to respond.

Some of the concerns are fair. Patients should ask questions. Lifestyle matters, and polypharmacy is real. But many of the conclusions are far too absolute, and several of the medical claims are simply not supported by good evidence.

Here’s my take as a cardiologist.

Some health trends come and go. Others can make health feel more tangible, encourage better conversations, and help pati...
08/03/2026

Some health trends come and go. Others can make health feel more tangible, encourage better conversations, and help patients take a more active role in their care. I shared my perspective with MDLinx on the trends that may be worth paying attention to.

“Devices that track activity, heart rate, and sleep have made health feel more tangible to people. Even if the data is not always perfectly precise, it has opened the door to conversations that we were not having as often before. Patients come in with questions, with data, and with a desire to improve, and that level of engagement is something I did not fully anticipate earlier in my career,” says Rigved Tadwalkar, MD, FACC

Read the full article here:
https://www.mdlinx.com/article/2026-s-biggest-health-trends-that-doctors-should-actually-encourage/2eN2czFTYBRmu0aXPgSxgl

MDLinx spoke with two experts about how health trends can impact their practice, and positive trends they’ve been seeing among patients this year.

Coffee hasn't really changed, but our ability to study it has. In my latest post for Second Opinions, I break down the n...
07/27/2026

Coffee hasn't really changed, but our ability to study it has. In my latest post for Second Opinions, I break down the new American Heart Association guideline and what the evidence actually says about coffee, caffeine, blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, cholesterol, brewing methods, and why coffee is much more than a delivery system for caffeine.

If you're a coffee drinker, a clinician, or simply curious about how medical evidence evolves, I hope you'll enjoy it.

Read here: https://rvtmd.substack.com/p/the-coffee-question

If you're not already subscribed to Second Opinions, you're always welcome to join. I publish evidence-based perspectives on cardiovascular medicine, the broader healthcare landscape, and the occasional topic that surprises me.

Better Research Has Changed What We Thought We Knew About Coffee and the Heart

The full recording of my Cedars-Sinai Health and Wellness Talk is now available on my YouTube channel:Beyond Blood Sugar...
07/18/2026

The full recording of my Cedars-Sinai Health and Wellness Talk is now available on my YouTube channel:

Beyond Blood Sugar: Understanding the Diabetes-Heart Health Link

In this talk, I discuss why diabetes should be understood as more than a blood sugar condition, and review evidence-based approaches to cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic risk.

Watch here:
https://youtu.be/5L49nJg2P1Q

-Sinai
Heart Institute
Tadwalkar, MD

In this Cedars-Sinai Health and Wellness Talk, Dr. Rigved V. Tadwal...

The first oral PCSK9 inhibitor has arrived, and this feels like a meaningful moment in lipid management.I wrote a new pi...
07/17/2026

The first oral PCSK9 inhibitor has arrived, and this feels like a meaningful moment in lipid management.

I wrote a new piece for Second Opinions on what this approval could mean in everyday cholesterol care.

Read it here:

https://rvtmd.substack.com/p/when-pcsk9-becomes-a-pill

Follow the page and subscribe to Second Opinions for practical cardiovascular commentary from a clinician’s perspective.

A powerful cholesterol pathway has moved into a form that patients already know

Address

2001 Santa Monica Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA
90404

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Rigved Tadwalkar, MD posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category