Dr. Steinman received his medical school training at Harvard Medical School and completed a residency in primary care internal medicine at UCSF. He then joined the UCSF Division of Geriatrics for fellowships in the VA National Quality Scholars Program and the UCSF Clinical Geriatrics Fellowship. Dr. Steinman has been a member of the faculty at UCSF since 2004.

Dr. Steinman is a national leader in identifying and improving the quality of medication prescribing in clinically complex older adults. He devotes most of his time to research, while also maintaining an active clinical practice in the geriatrics clinic and inpatient general medicine service at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. Dr. Steinman's research program focuses on improving how doctors prescribe medications for older adults, and is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and other funders. His research interests also include pharmaceutical industry marketing and the impacts of marketing on physicians and trainees.

Dr. Steinman is Co-Director for Research, Director of Research Training, and T32 research fellowship director for the UCSF Division of Geriatrics, and is leader of the Data, Measures, and Accrual Core for the UCSF Pepper Center for Aging Research. He also has leadership roles with several national organizations, including service as co-chair of the American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria guideline panel.