Dr. Syed Arif Rizvi graduated in 1972 from Dow Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery Degree. He then went on to serve as a Captain in the Army Medical Corps in Pakistan from 1972 to 1975. Upon completing his service, Dr. Rizvi moved to the United States to further pursue his medical career, and ultimately completed his Internal Medicine Residency at McKeesport Hospital in McKeesport, Pennsylvania in 1978. During his residency, Dr. Rizvi earned the Intern of the Year award in 1975, and the Resident of the Year award in 1976. He went on to complete his Nephrology Fellowship at Long Island College Hospital in New York from 1979 to 1981.
He then moved across country to further his training at the University of Southern California and completed his Clinical Research fellowship in Nephrology in 1982. It was at this point that his affiliation, support, and love for USC began.
Settling down in Southern California, Dr. Rizvi began his private practice in 1983, where he was, and continues to be, a specialist in Internal Medicine and Nephrology. This private practice ultimately became known as the California Kidney Specialists. It wasn’t until 1991, however, that he opened the La Puente Dialysis Clinic and became its Medical Director.
With his ten associates, Dr. Rizvi formed California Dialysis Management services, which manages thirteen dialysis clinics across Southern California, serving 1,300 dialysis patients. In addition, Dr. Rizvi and his team manage California Vascular Center at the renowned Casa Colina Rehabilitation Hospital, Portable Dialysis Service and run North American Research Institute.
With Dr. Rizvi’s affinity for volunteerism and philanthropy, he has been a mentor and a lecturer for the USC Nephrology program, has volunteered his time with the UCLA-affiliated free clinic, UMMA Community Clinic in South Los Angeles, and was also a Clinical Associate Professor at Western University of Health Sciences. He also devoted his time and served as the Chief of Medicine for the Department of Internal Medicine with Citrus Valley Health Partners in West Covina. Dr. Rizvi helped to develop and finance a free dialysis clinic in Karachi, Pakistan and contributes to A Continuous Charity, which provides interest free loans to students in the United States seeking higher education. He continues his philanthropy by supporting civil rights organizations, educational programs in third world countries, and relief organizations.
Despite Dr. Rizvi continuously giving his time to the practice, he has amazingly been able to balance his family life with his wife Sadyia, raising four children, and seven grandchildren.