Sports Medicine - 2026

Dr. Richard Ferkel grew up in Rockford, Illinois and attended UCLA where he played football for two years before graduating from UC Berkeley. He attended Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, served his orthopedic residency at UCLA, completed fellowship training in Sports Medicine and Reconstructive Knee and Shoulder Surgery at the Southern California Orthopedic Institute (SCOI) and did additional ankle and foot training there. Serving as the Director of the Sports Medicine Fellowship Program at SCOI, he has practiced medicine there for over 42 years. Dr. Ferkel is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at UCLA, and was Chief of Arthroscopic Surgery at Wadsworth Veterans Hospital for fifteen years.

After his fellowship, Dr. Ferkel identified that there was no one in the U.S. doing ankle arthroscopy, became the first to develop this field, and has written the definitive textbooks on the subject. He also was the first person in the U.S. to merge sports medicine with treatment of foot and ankle disorders in athletes. Dr. Ferkel has published numerous articles regarding the shoulder, knee, foot and ankle, and sports medicine. He lectures extensively all over the world. He has invented numerous surgical devices and performed live surgery around the globe.

Since 1983, Dr. Ferkel has donated his time to be the team doctor for Harvard-Westlake, Crespi and Oaks Christian high schools and Los Angeles Valley College. He also has been on the Board of the National Football Foundation, honoring high school scholar athletes for many years. He has treated thousands of professional and Olympic athletes and is one of the experts at the NBA Combine. Golden State Warrior Clay Thompson provided him an NBA championship ring for the surgery he performed on his achilles.

Dr. Ferkel is a member of the Hall of Fame for Los Angeles Super Doctors and has been recognized as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor, an honor reserved for the top 5 percent of physicians nationwide, acknowledging both exceptional clinical expertise and outstanding patient care. In addition, he was inducted into the Smith & Nephew Hall of Fame for his sports medicine and knee and ankle surgery innovations and skills, only the 8th surgeon honored in its 168-year history.

Dr. Ferkel has been happily married to his wife Michelle for 52 years. Together they are proud parents of two children and four grandchildren.