St. George’s University School of Medicine. Photo courtesy of St. George’s University
Caribbean medical school sends
21 graduates to Bronx hospitals
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
A group of graduates
from a Caribbean medical
school are about to make a
big impact on the medical
landscape of the borough.
This year St. George’s
University School of Medicine
in Grenada is sending
21 graduates to residencies,
or post-graduate training,
at three local hospitals in
the borough.
The graduates are
headed to Bronx Lebanon
Hospital, Lincoln Medical
Center, and Montefi ore
Medical Center – Albert
Einstein College of Medicine,
said Dr. Richard Liebowitz,
St. George’s University
vice-chancellor.
They will be doing their
residencies in pediatrics,
surgery, psychiatry, internal
medicine and emergency
medicine, said Liebowitz.
The students were
matched with the hospitals
where they perform
their post-graduate medical
training by a computer
ranking system based on
their own preferences and
the preferences of the hospitals.
This means that many
of the young doctors headed
to the borough selected the
local hospitals where they
will work, said Liebowitz.
“The students put in
into their ‘rank order lists’
places where they are happy
to train,” said Liebowitz.
“So the 21 people who have
matched to the Bronx are
probably going to be very
happy.”
Most of the students at
the college’s medical school
come from the United States
originally, said Liebowitz,
but like the borough, they
are also from a diverse
group of countries as well.
The college has a long history
of matching students to
borough hospitals, particularly
to Lincoln Hospital,
said the vice-chancellor.
The fact that borough
hospitals took so many new
residents from St. George’s
speaks well of the school,
the vice-chancellor believes,
saying that it shows graduates
of the school have been
reliable.
He said he believes a lot
of students chose to work in
urban environments like
the borough where there
are sometimes higher levels
of poverty, because of their
strong commitment to social
justice.
One of the young doctors
matched to Lincoln Hospital,
Nick Romagnoli, who is
about to graduate from St.
George’s University School
of Medicine, said that he
was impressed by Lincoln’s
Emergency Department
when he spent a month there
in August 2018 during medical
school. Romagnoli, who
is originally from the Washington
D.C. area, will be doing
his residency in emergency
medicine at Lincoln.
Romagnoli said his experiences
at Lincoln Emergency
Department and
elsewhere drew him to specialty.
He said he was especially
impressed by the camaraderie
amongst the residents at
the Melrose-based hospital.
“Everybody was friendly,
welcoming and willing to
help. It felt like a true team
effort there and I knew I
would be happy (at Lincoln),”
said Romagnoli.
The future Lincoln resident
and soon-to-be M.D.
said he is especially happy
to train at Lincoln because
it is a Level 1 trauma center,
the highest designation
of trauma treatment.
“It is a great place to
train because being in the
south Bronx….you get to
see this incredible display
of diseases and trauma,”
he said. “So, as far as emergency
medicine goes, it is
one of the best places to
train.”
Hit sensation from
TV’s Riverdale hails
from ‘the Neck’
6
2019 21,April WEEKLY BRONX BY ALEX MITCHELL
One of Hollywood’s
newest, biggest little stars
proudly hails from Throggs
Neck.
He’s 13-year-old Nico
Bustamante and he’s currently
the most interesting
plot twist on the CW’s show
Riverdale as the lost boy.
In addition he has stolen
the spotlight in many other
movies and fi lms.
Nico grew up like any
other seventh grade kid in
‘the Neck’, he loves playing
basketball in St. Theresa’s
hoops league and football
in Pelham Bay Park, is an
avid Jets fan, and has an
com overwhelming admiration
for Jennifer Anniston.
BXTimes.Growing up on Stadium
Avenue was the perfect
near-waterfront home for
the rising star.
www.He was fi rst noticed by
Manhattan talent agents
who realized that Nico
could read like a true actor
some years ago when he
was nine-years-old.
Things took off for the
young actor since then.
He found a spot on the
popular FOX TV show and
Batman prequel, ‘Gotham’,
playing the orphan in the
season four fi nale, and getting
rubbed out in the Kevin
Connolly fi lm ‘Gotti’.
While on the set of Riverdale
in Vancouver, Canada,
the cast simply couldn’t get
enough of Nico.
“They were so great to
me. I learned so much from
them,” Nico said stateside
in his Bronx home, mentioning
that his character
is one of the more interesting
ones to appear on the
show.
While he wasn’t allowed
to elaborate much on the
four plot twists, Nico did
say “they never really fi nd
an end to me,” in Season 3
where his character fi rst
appears.
Of course, now that
his IMDb page: https://
www.imdb.com/name/
nm8 5 2 01 3 3/? r ef _=nv_
sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1 he’s home Nico has a good
amount of schoolwork to
catch up on at I.S.192.
Nico Bustamante. Courtesy of Ian Redd
“It wasn’t until Riverdale
that the other kids really
payed attention to me,”
Nico joked around.
“Sure they knew I was
on TV and in movies but
then it was like, ‘Oh wow,
that’s the kid from Riverdale!’”
he said, describing
an ‘average’ day as a middle
schooler.
Speaking of averages,
Nico proudly maintains all
90 and above grades in his
courses.
“I have very supportive
teachers,” he said.
While fi lming on location,
Nico works with tutor
arranged by the SAG
Union...that’s also why he
only fl ies business class as
well.
As far as his development
goes as a performer,
Nico is also being mentored
by a well known, seasoned
actor.
Now playing the role of
a sensei more than a karate
kid, Ralph Macchio has
taken Nico under his wing.
“Ralph loves me,” Nico
joked. The two had worked
together on a Broadway
show called ‘A Room of My
Own.’ It was there that Nico
would memorize Macchio’s
lines and feed it to the veteran
actor as the two grew
fond of each other.
Macchio has since invited
Nico and his family
out to his vacation home
and does whatever he can
to propel the young actor’s
career forward.
Being an avid Rangers
fan, of course Macchio sent
Nico his own New York Islanders
bobble-head in good
humor.
To learn more about
Nico Bustamante’s extensive
resume and recourring
Riverdale role, visit
Nick Romagnoli, a St. George’s
University medical school
graduate, is one of 21 newly
minted doctors who are in their
residency training that are being
sent to borough hospitals
this year from the Grenadian
school.
Photo courtesy of St. George’s
University
/www.He
/