Dr. Fishman was raised in California, and finished his pre-medical studies at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating cum laude in Medical Sciences. He graduated in the top 10% of his medical schoolclass at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, and finished a medical internship atHarbor General Hospital in Torrance, California, a major UCLA teaching hospital. Dr. Fishman completed a residency in ophthalmology at Washington University Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri. He then spent two years at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, as a Clinical Fellow at the National Eye Institute, where he performed clinical and laboratory research.

Since beginning practice in Los Gatos in 1976, Dr. Fishman has served in a teaching position at Stanford University. He is now an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology there, Director of the Pathology Section of the Stanford Basic Science Course in Ophthalmology, and has been recognized as an Outstanding Clinical Faculty Teacher.

Dr. Fishman has also been active in leadership roles, and has served as Chief of the Medical Staff at Community Hospital of Los Gatos, President of the California Association of Ophthalmology, and is currently Trustee of the California Medical Association. He has a Masters Degree in Public Administration in Health Care. He is married, has two grown children, and enjoys photography, exercise, and gardening.