Jeff Thomas, M.D., awarded Professional Award in Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Jeff Thomas was presented the Professional Award in Engineering (PAE) for Mechanical Engineering during the 2017 Speed School Homecoming celebration held October 13 at the Brown Hotel.

The award is based on outstanding career performance in engineering, exceptional efforts by an individual to foster the professional development of young engineering college students. exceptional ability in the planning and direction of significant and important projects in technical engineering; and individual contributions to technical engineering knowledge.

Dr.  Thomas is a native of Louisville, KY, where he completed his primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in mechanical engineering and in medicine. He attended the University of Louisville J.B. Speed School of Engineering where he completed his B.S. degree in 1984 and his Masters of Engineering degree in 1985. After completing the graduate engineering program, Dr. Thomas accepted an engineering position with E. I. DuPont De Nemours Company in the biomedical products division located in Glasgow, DE, where he served as the manufacturing liaison for a new chemistry analyzer. A few years later, he transitioned to General Motor’s Delco Moraine Plant in Dayton, OH, where he worked in the power brakes department during the day and taught a course in the mechanical engineering technology department at the University of Dayton during the evening.

Dr. Thomas matriculated into medical school in 1990 and graduated in 1994. He completed his internship at St. Vincent Hospital, Indianapolis, IN (1994-1995) and his residency in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the University of Cincinnati in 1998.  Other than his tenure in Occupational Medicine as the Medical Director of Daimler Chrysler’s Indianapolis Foundry (2001-2005), his 19 years of practicing medicine has been focused on diagnosing and treating nerve, muscle, joint, and spine related pain and dysfunction in the adult population in both private practice and hospital-based settings. In 2005, Dr. Thomas became the Medical Director of the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana’s outpatient multi-disciplinary pain management program, while continuing his work with a team of nerve, muscle, joint, and spine pain practitioners on the far northeast side of Indianapolis on alternate days of the week.

Dr. Thomas obtained his law degree (J.D.) from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in December 2012. He presently practices medicine in McCordsville, Indiana. The scope of his medical practice includes performing fluoroscopically-guided invasive spine and major joint diagnostic and pain ameliorating procedures, assessing work and non-work related injuries at the request of nurse case managers, physicians, insurance companies, lawyers, and the workers compensation board for the purpose of providing a medical opinion on injury causation, the current functional status of an injured party, an impairment rating at the end of treatment, recommendations regarding permanent restrictions, and or prognoses.