He earned a medical degree at University of Texas Medical School in 1991. Dr. Thorstad completed a residency in radiation oncology at Loyola University Medical Center in 1995; a residency in nuclear medicine at Duke University Medical Center in 1997, and completed a fellowship in radiation oncology at the Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, in 1998. He joined the School of Medicine faculty in 2000 from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine. His clinical practice and research interest includes head and neck oncology, nuclear oncology and PET.