Tommy attended Dartmouth Medical School and completed residency in pediatrics at the University of New Mexico where he was twice named the Resident Teacher of the Year. Following residency, Tommy was a research fellow at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at the University of California at San Francisco. Tommy has been awarded the American Academy of Pediatrics Annie Dyson Child Advocacy Award, the Dartmouth College Martin Luther King Junior award, the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care Nkosi Johnson Award and the Peach Abbey Courage of Conscience Award.