Dr. Harold L. Karpman received his bachelor’s degree when he graduated from the University of California, San Francisco. He started his four-year medical school training, graduating and receiving his medical degree in June 1954. After extensive postgraduate training—his residencies were at the Los Angeles County General Hospital and Beth Israel Hospital at Harvard Medical School—he started his medical practice in cardiology in 1959.
Dr. Karpman was a clinical professor of medicine for the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles. He started his cardiology practice along with Drs. Daniel Bleifer and Selvyn Bleifer in 1960 (Cardiovascular Medical Group of Southern California) in Beverly Hills, California. He retired from his practice at the age of ninety-one in April 2018. He founded Cardio-Dynamics Laboratories, Inc., creator of the world’s first Holter twenty-four-hour cardiac recording monitor. He also founded the Cardiovascular Research Foundation of Southern California—a nonprofit public entity dedicated to community-funded cardiovascular research, where he still serves on the board of directors. Dr. Karpman also served as chairman of the board of Western Cardiovascular Network, and he continues to serve on the board of governors of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Aside from his successful career as a doctor, Dr. Karpman is a much sought after speaker, lecturer, and published author. He has written several books, including Your Second Life and Preventing Silent Heart Disease, both for lay people on heart disease, and more than one hundred peer-reviewed papers and presentations. He is an authority on the economics of health-care delivery and managed care and is a celebrated expert on all aspects of clinical and consultative cardiology. His curriculum vitae lists over 150 articles.
Dr. Karpman attributes his success to his education, mentors he had along the way, and his passion for helping his patients and their families. He says he found his work very gratifying and hopes that others will consider a career in cardiology.
When not working, he enjoys opera, classical music, tennis, Woody Allen movies, and time with his wife and family.