A Class Assignment Sparks a Career
“I did not have any physician in my immediate family, but in fifth grade, when we had to memorize all the bones in the human body, I became interested in medicine and decided I wanted to be a doctor,” says Alan Gingold (D.O. ’00). Gingold, a gastroenterologist, was drawn to the specialty because of his interest in doing procedures. He found that the classes he took at New York Institute of Technology worked well with his hands-on approach, training, and preparedness. “During the first two years at NYITCOM, when there is little clinical training, mostly lectures and book learning, I found that our classes in osteopathic manipulation gave me an advantage,” he says. “By the time I got to my third year of medical school and we were now doing our hospital rotations, I felt very comfortable doing a physical exam and putting my hands on my patients.”
Gingold is part of a group of six gastroenterologists at the Digestive Healthcare Center, where he has been for 14 years. “I think the most challenging part of my practice is spending enough time with each one of my patients to make sure that I am able to help them solve their problems,” he says. “You want to make sure that you are able to spend enough time with each patient to really listen to their problems and work with them to formulate a plan for their treatment, but realizing that there is just not enough time in a day to always give patients as much time as they may want.”
When asked about the years he spent at New York Tech, he looks back on that time fondly, remembering the impact his classes and professors had on him and the way he approaches patient care. “Dr. Robert Mancini was an amazing teacher, and even though it was obvious that he struggled with the symptoms from his Parkinson’s Disease, you could tell he was there to teach because he just loved being around the students. He truly cared about their education,” he recalls. “He was compassionate about his work, and that served as an inspiration for me.”
Although his interest in medicine came at an early age, Gingold once considered going to art school. So, it should come as no surprise that when asked what advice he might give first-year students, he encourages them to think big and outside of the box. “I would say, while it may sound a little cliché, you can do anything you want to do with your life. If you work hard and are persistent, there are no boundaries for you,” he says. “Whatever you choose, make sure it is something that you enjoy because you will be doing it for a long time.”
