Richard Hift received his medical training at the University of Cape Town, where he later specialised in internal medicine. He then completed a two-year research fellowship in the MRC/UCT Liver Research Centre. This led to a dual clinical career in specialist hepatology and general medicine, a research career in disorders of biosynthesis and porphyria, an MMed Medicine and a PhD. He moved to UKZN in 2007 as head of the Department of Medicine and served as Dean of the School of Clinical Medicine from 1012-2016, during which time he served as Chair of the South African Committee of Medical Deans. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters and has received numerous invitations to speak at local and international scientific meetings.

He has been deeply involved in the education and training of undergraduate and postgraduate medical professionals and the integration of the returning NMFCMC students from Cuba into South African medical schools. In recent years, this has developed into a strong interest in research capacitation for clinicians, which encompasses several areas: recognition of the differences between clinical and research reasoning, the fostering of a deeper understanding of the philosophy of the scientific method, training in the practice of science for clinicians and the empowerment of research supervisors. For the past two years, he has served as the Acting Academic Leader of Research for the School of Clinical Medicine, and has used this position to develop policies and administrative procedures which facilitate quality MMed- and PhD-level research. He has a firm commitment to promoting academic medicine in South Africa and is active in clinical service, teaching and research, as well as policy formulation and mentorship.