d'mensions/the d'youville college Journal summer 2oo6

Robert Gambino ’00
When Robert Gambino graduated from high
school he began working at a job in a factory.
He fully intended to work for a year or so, to save some
money, and then pursue his goal of further education.
The job was going to provide the means for him to fulfill his ambition
of that college degree. “However,” he wrote, “what seemed like a blink
of an eye was really ten long years.” Robert does not regret that work
experience because it provided something very important: “an education
for life,” which could be considered as valuable and eye opening as a
college diploma.
Hard working, he grew increasingly dissatisfied with his type of
employment and its monotony because there was no challenge. As he
looks back, he believes he came to realize
that he had some untapped potential that
he wanted to explore. He knew that further
study would release that talent.
’00journals that provide updates in his field.
When he began to consider resuming his
education and evaluating all his options,
he learned about the physician assistant
program and it intrigued him. He realized
that it was going to be challenging and that
it would provide a sense of meaning that
comes when one sets one’s sights on a goal
and sees it through.
Leaving a job when one has a family to
support is a hard decision. It requires much
soul searching and sacrifice on everyone’s
part. When he began the PA program, he
found himself much busier than when he was
working full time. But the decision to pursue
a degree was definitely the correct one and
his choice of program was absolutely the
right choice. His family provided every
encouragement he needed and he said, “My
wife was my biggest fan and wonderfully
supportive.”
After graduating in the class of 2000, he
quickly secured employment at the Buffalo Thoracic Surgical Associates
where he continues to work today. “I work with four remarkable surgeons
in a thriving cardiothoracic practice with two other physician assistants,
both of whom are D’Youville graduates. It’s a great group to work for and
I find each day a rewarding experience.”
Although his work hours are long – sometimes he works as many as 15
hours a day – he always finds leisure to play with his children. He even
manages to eke out a precious few hours to read, especially the medical
Robert is not absolutely sure that he has reached his career goal. He said
he hoped that he would always be seeking one goal or another. “To satisfy
a goal to me usually means its time to set another. I guess I’ve come to
learn that the process is the reward – and to that end, I hope I’m never
entirely satisfied.”
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