After completing his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of California, Irvine, Dr. Maxwell attended medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. He graduated in 1984 and trained in surgery at the Naval Hospital in San Diego, California. He trained in thoracic surgery at the University of Tennessee in Memphis. Dr. Maxwell became Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego before joining Drs. James Oury, Carlos Duran and Stephen Hiro at The International Heart Institute of Montana in 1997. He performs coronary artery bypass surgery, heart valve surgery, thoracic surgery, and specializes in off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery and pediatric open-heart surgery.