TCU grad’s mission of mercy takes him across ocean to hospital ship in Africa

Tom Strandwitz set sail on his nursing career recently.

Well, not with actual sails, but the TCU Nursing School graduate was on a nautical vessel as part of a pilot program for Mercy Ships. He is one of five students or recent grads selected for a two-week international internship aboard Africa Mercy in Madagascar, a first for the program.

Mercy Ships is a global nonprofit that delivers health care to medical deserts by operating fully volunteer-staffed hospital ships and providing free, life-changing surgeries and medical care.

“I am honored to be a part of Mercy Ships’ mission, and it is a privilege that I don’t take lightly,” said Strandwitz, who graduated in May and served his internship in late July and early August.

During the two weeks, Strandwitz rotated through clinical rotations. He served in the rehabilitation tent helping children who had undergone orthopedic surgery, the recovery ward, observing surgeries (including a hernia repair and cataract removal), the outpatient tent for follow-up visits, and he even served in the ship’s galley making food.

Strandwitz said he told his academic adviser, Suzy Lockwood, who is also an associate dean of the nursing school, that he was not sure he wanted to pursue the traditional hospital nursing track. When Mercy Ships reached out to her, she encouraged him to apply for the internship.

“While a student in the nursing program at TCU he had the opportunity to experience a variety of different health care settings, and while he excelled in each area he would often talk with myself and other faculty about his strong desire to really make a difference and have an impact outside of the ‘traditional-expected’ health care setting,” Lockwood recalled. “His passion for those who had significant challenges, whether physical or financially, really began to drive his passion for what he wanted to do in his nursing career after graduation.”

Lockwood said when she was first approached about the opportunity for TCU to be a part of the pilot internship, Strandwitz was the first student she thought of. She described him as the epitome of the school’s mission to prepare ethical leaders in a global community and to impact global health.

“Tom has a visible and intentional passion for serving and giving, most especially to those who face barriers to having their health and medical needs met,” she said. “The opportunity to serve in Africa on a hospital ship engaged in the delivery of the full spectrum of health care to children couldn’t have been a better fit and experience for him.”

High school mission trips while in Austin

Strandwitz said mission trips in high school while attending the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin helped him develop and cultivate a servant mindset. Also, his church, First United Methodist Austin, partners with the Appalachia Service Project every year on a house building mission in rural Appalachia.

He also played baseball all four years in high school and football as a senior. Much of his inspiration for becoming a nurse came during his junior year, when was an athletic trainer, he said.

“I became fascinated with anatomy and physiology. From there I focused specifically on nursing after the COVID pandemic started, and I was inspired by the sacrifices nurses on the front lines were making,” he said.

Strandwitz is also the first in his family to enter the medical field.

He said one of the most glaring and saddening issues with medical deserts is that even the most preventable and easily treatable diseases are prevalent in those areas. An example is club foot, a disease with the same worldwide incidence rate, about 1 in every 800-1,000 children born.

“While the occurrence rate may be the same across the board, in medical deserts like Madagascar club foot goes uncorrected and continues to affect the child for their entire life,” Strandwitz said. “Further, the earlier club foot is addressed, the less time it takes to correct, but because Madagascar has extremely limited access to immediate postnatal care, many children with club foot progress to the point where a large surgical intervention is required to address their condition, another resource those in medical deserts often lack.”

Mercy Ships is helping to address issues like these by training surgeons so those surgical interventions can continue after Mercy Ships leaves.

Career plans post-internship

Strandwitz said he wants to do more to expand health care access for those who are the least able to access it.

“Right now that looks like applying for public health nursing jobs with state and local health departments,” he said. “I am also looking at nursing jobs with free and reduced-cost clinics for uninsured or under-insured individuals, which would be closer to traditional nursing but in a primary care setting.”

And he will always be thankful for the inspiration and experience he received from his internship with Mercy Ships, he said.

“In just two weeks I met so many incredible people that all shared the same dedication to the service of others that led me to choose nursing six years ago. It was refreshing to be in a community of such singular mind and selfless purpose in a world that seems so hopeless at times,” he said. “Mercy Ships as a whole continued to remind me that people are, at a basic level, humble, gentle, and kind.

“I had an indescribably positive experience in Madagascar, and I will certainly be back as soon as I can. I plan on returning to TCU to tell other nursing students about my experience and hopefully motivate them to support Mercy Ships’ mission as well.”