Joel E. Bruce, MD ’87

September 20, 2021 – The UVA Medical Alumni Association is pleased to recognize Joel E. Bruce, MD ’87, with the 2021 Outstanding Medical Alumnus Award.

Bruce graduated from UVA in 1983 with a degree in chemistry and a US Air Force Officer’s commission. He graduated from the UVA School of Medicine in 1987. While in medical school, he was a charter member of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity graduate chapter. Bruce completed his internal medicine residency at the Wright-Patterson USAF Hospital in Dayton, Ohio in 1990. He then completed his nephrology fellowship at Wilford Hall USAF Hospital/ University of Texas at San Antonio in 1992. He remained in the program as a clinical professor and director of dialysis services from 1992 to 1996. His academic responsibilities included teaching medical students, residents, and fellows from the two programs as well as the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. In 1996 he left the US Air Force with the rank of Major and joined Southeast Renal Associates in Charlotte, NC. He was the president of the group when it merged with Metrolina Nephrology Associates in 2010. He remains in the practice today and is in charge of home dialysis initiatives.

Over the past five years, Bruce has served on the UVA Medical Alumni Association Board of Directors. In 2018-2019, he served as the secretary before serving two years as president elect. He will become the president in spring 2021. Bruce has served on the Alumni Relations Committee, Black Medical Alumni Engagement Group and Black Medical Alumni Weekend Planning Committee. He serves as a mentor as part of the Student Alumni Mentorship Program and has been an active supporter of the work of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) Chapter at UVA. Bruce has a long-standing tradition of taking medical students to breakfast during each of his trips to Charlottesville.

Congratulations to Dr. Bruce on this well-deserved recognition.