Dr. Thomas was born in 1955 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was brought up in Las Vegas and graduated from Ed. W. Clark High School in 1973. He attended The University of Utah and completed his premedical studies Magna Cum Laude and as Valedictorian of the College in 1979. He completed medical school and research at Johns Hopkins in 1984. Five years of orthopaedic residency training were completed in Seattle, Washington at the University of Washington and affiliated hospitals. After completion of residency, he stayed on with Dr. Frederick Matsen to continue fellowship training in surgery of the shoulder and elbow and to complete his research in cruciate ligament reconstruction and sports injuries of the knee. After completing his additional training, a traveling fellowship in arthroscopic treatment of knee and shoulder injuries was completed. Training was received from Dr. Russell Warren, team physician for the New York Giants professional football team among other teams, at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. Dr. Thomas then trained in southern California with Dr. Stephen Snyder who is considered one of the most advanced and innovative shoulder arthroscopists of our time. Dr. Thomas has numerous publications in the orthopaedic literature including co-authorship of several chapters in the major orthopaedic text books.
While Dr. Thomas’s present pratice does address general orthopaedic problems, its emphasis is on sports injuries and arthroscopic treatment of knee and shoulder problems. Dr. Thomas is an expert in the treatment of both knees and shoulders. In fact, due to their greater prevalence, Dr. Thomas treats approximately 15% more knees then he does shoulders. He is Board Certified in General Orthopaedic Surgery and also holds a Subspecialty Certificate in Orthopaedic Sports Medicine. To date, Dr. Thomas has performed over 30,000 surgeries. Dr. Thomas does all of his own surgeries and does not allow fellows, residents, or other surgeons in training to perform any of his surgeries.
