Cathy Schanzer: Mother, Physician and Dedicated Volunteer

by Leslie Goldberg, Assistant Editor
Ophthalmology Management
October 2006

Cathy Schanzer, M.D., medical director and chief surgeon at Southern Eye Associates in Memphis, Tennessee, and mother to seven adopted children, felt the calling for mission work early in her professional career. After a few years in private practice, the frustrations of paperwork requirements and medical bureaucracy helped motivate Dr. Schanzer to act on her wish to provide medical care in its purest, simplest form.

She first traveled to Africa in 1988. With little information at hand, she gathered supplies, got her immunization shots, and at the last minute, her husband, Tom, decided to join her (he thought it would be a good idea that if she was going to face danger, he should be along for the trip). Their work began in Nigeria and later included efforts in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Six years ago, at the encouragement of a friend, they trekked to Sierra Leone, a country recovering from a long and brutal civil war. While they loved Sierra Leone, it provided an enormous challenge. Among many obstacles, the entire infrastructure of the country had been destroyed. Refugee camps, orphaned children, lack of water and electricity, pothole-filled roads and minimal housing were the norms. Most of the nation's medical care facilities had also been destroyed.

The couple initially volunteered at the Kissy Eye Clinic in the capital city of Freetown. Then, in 2005, they were asked to go to Serabu, 7 bumpy-road hours southeast of Freetown and the home village of Catholic Archbishop Joseph Ganda. The war had virtually destroyed the entire village and Archbishop Ganda had requested that Cathy and Tom help "his people."

Dr. Schanzer recalls their arrival at the village. She observed that most people live in makeshift huts and water is carried from a local stream. She was the first doctor there in 15 years and was soon inundated with general medical problems. She also had to deal with tribal chiefs, local healers, the Catholic diocese and a slowly recovering national healthcare system.

Once committed to the mission in Serabu, Cathy and Tom began to transform a simple block building into a modern eye clinic and surgical facility, adding diagnostic and surgical equipment, well-water gravity-flow plumbing, generator electricity and an air conditioner to climate-control the operating theatre. They hired seven full-time local employees, including three trained technicians from Freetown, who Dr. Schanzer says have a wealth of medical knowledge. These people agreed to leave their own families to go to Serabu because they felt so strongly about the mission.

The clinic has a full-time ophthalmic nurse, optician and operating theatre technician but does not yet have sufficient physician/surgeon coverage.

Cathy and Tom travel there twice a year for 3 weeks at a time, with Dr. Schanzer performing nearly non-stop surgery each trip. Tom assists with patient care logistics and behind-the-scenes support for all the operating systems that keep the clinic open. Area residents plan for their arrival and begin walking 3 to 4 days in advance of their coming. Dr. Schanzer has taught the clinic employees how to do A-scans and keratometry so they can correctly perform IOL calculations and lens selection. "I am amazed at what has been accomplished," says Dr. Schanzer. "It is both very humbling and very rewarding. While we began this venture with the idea of giving, we have received much in return. We have witnessed the true meaning of life and living under very harsh conditions."

Cathy and Tom have also established Southern Eye Institute as a 501(c)(3) organization to support their mission efforts. Private funds and outside donations support the clinic operations. They aer recruiting visiting surgeons and will help coordinate all travel logistics. Interested physicians can contact them through their web site at www.southerneyememphis.com or by calling Tom Lewis directly at (901) 569-3939.