Indianapolis Medical Society

Born and raised in the Broad Ripple area of Indianapolis, John attended St. Pius X Catholic Grade School with his five brothers and sisters. He graduated from North Central High School in 1977. When not in school or at wrestling practice, Dr. McGoff volunteered in the Wishard Hospital Emergency Department, and it is there that he decided to become a physician.

In 1980, at the age of 20, Dr. McGoff graduated from Indiana University with a degree in biology and then matriculated into the IU School of Medicine. During his third year of medical school, he joined the Medical Officer Training Corps with the Indiana National Guard and he has been serving in the military ever since. Upon completion of medical school in 1984, he performed his three-year residency in Emergency Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, including a stint as Chief Resident. There, he met a young nurse named Karen Strom, now his wife of 24 years. They have a 13-year-old daughter, Ava. After finishing his residency in 1987, John returned to Indianapolis and began working in the Emergency Department at Community Hospital, where he has since helped tens of thousands of patients from many different backgrounds.

Dr. McGoff has continued with the National Guard and has been recently confirmed by the US Senate for promotion to Brigadier General. He will become Chief of Staff for the Indiana Air National Guard effective 1 June 2010. He currently serves as the Air Guard Assistant to the United States Air Force Surgeon General at European Headquarters. Col McGoff has deployed extensively around the world with operational tours in Antarctica, Turkey, Jordan, Bahrain and Germany and has logged over 600 hours of flight time in numerous aircraft, including the F-4 and F-16. In 2001, he graduated from the Air Force's Air War College. He returned last January from a tour in Iraq, where he served as the Director of Emergency Services at the 332d EMDG, Joint Base Balad, the busiest trauma center in Iraq.

In addition to his roles as a father, physician, and colonel, Dr. McGoff remains an active member of the community in many other ways. He has served on a variety of national, state and local boards including the Board of Directors for Community Hospitals, Marion County Forensic Science Commission, Indiana Organ Procurement Organization, Indiana Brain Injury Leadership Board, President of the Indiana Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians and current Alternate Trustee to the Indiana State Medical Association.

Dr. McGoff has also been active in Republican politics in Marion County and Indiana for many years. In 1996, he was elected Marion County Coroner, serving two terms. In May 2008, he narrowly lost an election for the Republican nomination for Indiana's Fifth Congressional District.