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.Endocrine Surgeon & General SurgeonMedical Director of Thyroid Nodule Treatment CenterAssociate Professor in Surgery, Creighton University School of MedicineAssistant Professor of Surgery, University of Arizona College of MedicineFellow, American College of SurgeonsMember, American Association of Endocrine SurgeonsMember, NASIT (North American Society of Interventional Thyroidologists): Program Director for the first national meetingRichard J. Harding MD has been on the forefront of surgical advances since arriving in Phoenix, Arizona. He was the first to perform many of the advanced laparoscopic and robotic operations at his hospitals. Always on a mission to improve patient satisfaction, he was one of the first surgeons in the US to perform remote access robotic laparoscopic thyroid surgery in 2010. He continues to advance techniques for truly scar-less surgery with his introduction of Transoral Endoscopic Thyroidectomy Vestibular Approach to Arizona in 2018. With over 27 years of performing ultrasound based diagnostic interventions, including saphenous vein ablation, he has now mastered ultrasound based therapies for the thyroid gland. Now using the same unique expertise, he introduces the radiofrequency ablation of benign thyroid nodules to Arizona and the southwest in 2019.Dr. Harding graduated Magna Cum Laude from Vanderbilt University in 1985 and went on to graduate from medical school at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1989. He completed his General Surgical training at Georgetown University in 1995. Dr. Harding also served in the US Naval Reserve from 1989 to 2004. In 2003 he served in Operation Iraqi Freedom as Commander in the U.S. Navy.​Dr. Harding is a founding member of Arizona Associated Surgeons, which merged to form Arizona Advanced Surgery LLC. This private practice group formed with the goal of providing state-of-the-art, comprehensive patient care and is one of the largest private general surgery groups in the country.