Photo: Bruce J. Thoma, M.D.

Bruce J. Thoma, M.D.

Retired

After 32 years of service, Dr. Thoma retired from Lakeshore Bone & Joint Institute in December 2019.

Dr. Thoma’s formative education took place at St. Mary of the Lake Grade School and Andrean High School, after which, he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. The next four years were spent on a U.S. Navy destroyer during the Vietnam War. After returning home, he was eager to become a doctor and was accepted to the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Indiana. He completed his flexible internship at Mercy Health Saint Mary’s Campus in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and his orthopedic residency at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He then underwent specialized fellowship training at the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey, California, before going to work at the Valparaiso Orthopedic Clinic in 1987, which grew into the Lakeshore Bone & Joint Institute of today, a complex and far-reaching enterprise.

Throughout his years of practice, Dr. Thoma relied on the support of the talented and giving doctors and staff at Lakeshore Bone & Joint Institute as well as his wife, three children, and his extended family.