“I just got called in to a meeting with Senator Gillibrand’s office—can I call you back in 30 minutes?” That’s the first question Angelo Mascia asked when The Box initially reached out for this interview. Mascia was in Washington D.C. representing the Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents (COSGP) at American Medical Student Association Advocacy Day.
“We were advocating issues for medical students. We talked about Planned Parenthood, the Affordable Care Act, federal student loans for medical students, and immigration policy and DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals),” he explained when he returned from his meeting with the junior senator from New York.
Now in his final semester at NYITCOM, Mascia is in the home stretch of realizing his dream of becoming a doctor. But that wasn’t always his original path. “Prior to applying to medical school, I was a web developer and IT consultant,” he said. His heart wasn’t in it, however, and he was trying to figure out what career path he really wanted to take when his father passed away. The tragic event helped him realize that medicine was the right choice.
Mascia was drawn to osteopathic medicine because of its more humanistic approach to understanding and treating patients and their problems. “When I was working in the Westchester Medical Center Emergency Department around 2011–2013, I worked with both D.O.s and M.D.s; while they are very similar in practice, the patients seemed more receptive to the D.O.s,” he said. “I didn’t understand why, until I started researching it. Osteopathic medicine is not problem-solution based. You look past the specific problem and see what else is going on with the patient in their treatment.”
His family circumstances and the campus’ proximity to his home initially led him to NYITCOM, and he has been thrilled with his choice. “I love this school,” he said. “The education is fantastic. Overall, academically, we’re one of the strongest in the country.” Mascia also gives high praises to NYITCOM’s faculty and staff members and students. “Whether it’s student to student or faculty to student, there is a strong community presence at this school.”
Mascia has tried to take full advantage of all NYIT has to offer and has risen to the top of his class and game. He was chosen as the chair of the COSGP for 2016–2017, a role that enables him to serve as the student voice of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. He is especially interested in the mental health of medical students. “One of my goals is to bring awareness to mental health issues—how to recognize warning signs, treatment options, and how students can tackle issues they may be facing,” he explained. “Each year, approximately 400 physicians and 150 students commit suicide, so there is a research component as well, which is to study the mental health of medical students and see if we can identify the root cause of issues.”
Mascia was recently matched to his first choice on Match Day on February 6. After graduation, he will be heading to the emergency room at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, and he is eager to start his career there. “It’s a privilege to help people in the community,” he said.
