Dr. Strickland was born in Columbia, South Carolina but raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. He finished Parkview High School in Little Rock as the Valedictorian of his graduating class. Next he travelled to Nashville, Tennessee to attend Vanderbilt University majoring in Biology with a minor in Mathematics. He finished Vanderbilt University as a Magna Cum Laude graduate. From Nashville he went back to his hometown of Little Rock to receive his Doctor of Medicine degree from The University of Arkansas College of Medicine. Next Dr. Strickland returned to Columbia, South Carolina for his General Surgery Residency at The University of South Carolina School of Medicine. A final year of additional surgery training was completed as a Fellow in Plastic Surgery at The University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, Texas. He is Board Certified in General Surgery by the American Board of Surgery and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Strickland served for nine years in the Medical Corp of United States Army Reserves.