Dr Thandra attended medical school at Bhaskar Medical College in Hyderabad, India. After receiving his medical degree, he moved to Omaha, Nebraska where he completed Internal medicine residency, cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology fellowships at Creighton University. He sharpened his leadership skills while serving as a chief cardiology fellow. He received awards recognizing his scholarly activity throughout fellowship and was honored with Syed M. Mohiuddin excellence in cardiovascular disease fellowship award. He has over 60 research publications on several topics including coronary artery disease, valvular disease, and heart failure.

He is board certified in internal medicine, cardiology, echocardiography, and nuclear medicine. He practices interventional cardiology with expertise in performing complex coronary intervention including different kinds of atherectomy, mechanical circulatory support devices, chronic total occlusions, peripheral vascular interventions, PFO closures and left atrial appendage closures.