Richard Waldmann's undergraduate education at Brown emphasized mathematics and quantitative science. He attended Harvard Medical School in the HST program designed for students with a strong quantitative background. He spent 2 years doing molecular biology research in the HMS Genetics Department which allowed him to write a thesis which allowed him to graduate medical school with honors. He residency training was in Pediatrics at the University of Utah . He then returned to the Harvard affiliated Boston Children's Hospital to study Pediatric Cardiology.