Page 40 - COM Outlook - Spring 2013

40 COM Outlook . Spring 2013
Getting to Know…
1993 Alumnus Dr. Andrew Gross
Fast Facts: Andrew S. Gross, D.O.,
FACOFP, who graduated from NSU-COM
in 1993, lives in Dunedin, Florida, with
his wife Cynthia and son Colton, who also
goes by the moniker Cody. “Cody has been
following my involvement in osteopathic
medicine organizations since weeks after
his birth when we brought him to his
first Pinellas County Osteopathic Medical
Society convention,” Dr. Gross stated.
“Lately, if we don’t bring Cody to one of
our events, everyone asks where he is and
why he isn’t with us.”
Please summarize how you became
interested in medicine and decided
to become a physician. My father, a
pharmacist, was my inspiration to pursue
a career in medicine. As I was growing
up, I had the opportunity to read and
review his old college textbooks from
when he went to the Brooklyn College of
Pharmacy. I especially remember reading
his textbooks from a course he took in
pharmacognosy, which included the
study of herbal substances and how they
developed into medical uses. He actually
kept many of his herbs in cellophane bags
over the years, which I used in a high school
presentation as part of a medieval fair
demonstrating herbal medical treatments
used duringmedieval times. It was such fun
to incorporate the studies of my father into
my high school studies.
While attending Piper High School in
Sunrise, Florida, I was very active in the
high school band program. By the time
I was a junior in high school, I played
mallets in the marching band, bassoon in
the symphonic band, and piano/tenor sax
in the jazz band. I earned the John Phillip
Souza Award as a junior in high school
for my efforts with the band programs,
which was a rare feat since this was usually
given to a senior. However, I knew that
if I continued in the band, I was being
considered for either drum major or band
captain, which would have been too much
of a distraction for my eventual choice to
prepare to pursue premed in college.
As much as I loved music, I knew my future
would be in medicine and decided to leave
the band during my senior year. I then
pushed myself into advanced placement
biology, advanced placement physics, and
advanced placement calculus while also
doing a course as a laboratory assistant in
the chemistry lab. By the time I graduated
high school, I finishedmy challenging senior
year with straight A grades, boostedmy GPA,
and was accepted to the University of South
Florida (USF) for my undergraduate studies.
Why did you decide to attend SECOM
(NSU-COM), and how did you come to
learn about osteopathic medicine?
My personal family doctor as I was
growing up was a D.O. My father used to
tell me he wanted to make sure we went
to a D.O. because from his practice as a
pharmacist, osteopathic physicians were
friendlier people, seemed to spend more
time with their patients, and seemed
to listen more. My role models were
always osteopathic physicians, and the
only schools I chose to apply to were
osteopathic programs. Since I grew up in
Sunrise, Florida, it was an easy choice to
apply to the Southeastern University of
Health Sciences College of Osteopathic
Medicine in North Miami. When I was
accepted, I was thrilled to have the
opportunity to learn about my career
choice near the place I grew up.
What was the most memorable
aspect of your osteopathic education
at SECOM (NSU-COM)? The most
memorable aspect of my medical school
education was the people around me.
The professors had a true love to teach
and possessed a desire to see us do well.
Our class was cohesive and worked well
together. We also didn’t compete against
each other, which was the most frustrating
part about life during my undergraduate
premedical program. We studied together
as colleagues and pushed each other to
help us all succeed.
My father was right. I suppose the reason
osteopathic physicians are friendlier
doctors goes back to howwe were trained.
The spirit of working together through the
difficult curriculum is probably the most
memorable part of medical school and
is a part of how I continue to work with
colleagues, residents, and students.
Please describe in detail what you
are doing professionally at the
moment and why you enjoy it. My
practice has certainly evolved over the
years since graduating in 1993. I am
currently practicing in a large group family
medicine practice specializing in managing
rehabilitation and skilled nursing patients
in many nursing homes throughout the
Tampa Bay area. Personally, I follow
patients in about 16 nursing homes in
Dr. Silvagni
shares a fun
moment with
Cody.