Captain Michael P. McCarthy, USN (ret.) “was born in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. He went to grade school at St. Scholastica's in Aspinwall. He attended North Catholic High School and won a football scholarship to St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He was co-captain of his varsity football team and graduated with a degree in biology in 1961. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine in 1965 and was drafted into the Navy.

He interned at Philadelphia Naval Hospital and then spent two years with the submarine service, before beginning a residency of urology at San Diego Naval Hospital, completing his training in 1972. Upon completion of his residency he was ordered to Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital. In 1977 he became a chairman of the urology department at San Diego Naval Hospital. Upon his retirement in 1988 he joined the urology facility at the University of California at San Diego and retired as a professor emeritus of surgery in 1994. He is a board certified urologist and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is an avid golfer and belongs to the El Camino Country Club in Oceanside, California and is a member of the club's senior team. Captain Michael P. McCarthy is the author of Bull In The Ring.

The MOA said of Bull in the Ring it “is a unique amalgam…part medicine, part military…part football. The story centers on a very small fraction of a busy surgeon’s career. Dr. McCarthy is coerced into coaching the Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital football team, while also running a large department, treating countless patients and trying to raise five small children. There’s plenty of conflict, a few tears and lots of laughs.”

One reader of Bull In The Ring said, “Dr. McCarthy is a great storyteller. "Bull in the Ring" is his autobiographical tale of a Navy doctor who is recruited to coach the hospital football team, a perennial doormat in a league of Marines. The book is a behind-the-scenes look at a down to earth doc who balances his life as a family man, intense football coach and compassionate physician. He throws in funny stories of military protocol and operating room pranks. You will love this book.”