Raymond Romano
“Few of my graduate student colleagues can say they had such a fruitful undergraduate experience compared to me. While at MMC, I was able to present seven scientific posters at regional and national conferences. I had the opportunity to participate in two academic talks, and I was also co-author of one publication on organ donation. Since leaving MMC, I have used the skills daily that were taught to me by MMC faculty, ranging from time-management, to critical thinking, and applying concepts of physiology.”
About
Right before his sophomore year, Ray Romano, MPH, MSN, RN, FNP-BC, ’11, had a major change of heart: “I realized I wanted to go into the healthcare field. I dropped all my courses, changed my major to biology, and enrolled in a new set of classes a week before the start of the semester.”
Romano has never regretted that pivotal decision, and became a doctoral student at the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. In June 2016, Romano began a two-year fellowship with the Department of Veterans Affairs. His work and research—including several publications and presentations—focused on Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and how technology can improve quality of life. Romano is working on his doctorate in Nursing Science at Vanderbilt, slated for confirmation in 2019.
Although he lives in Nashville now, Romano fondly remembers New York City as an ideal environment for a budding scientist. “The Marymount Manhattan faculty use innovative teaching approaches and take advantage of NYC as the school’s extended campus. I frequently visited the American Museum of Natural History and remember collecting samples for my research from the beach at Coney Island,” he says. “MMC prepared me the most for a career in science.”
This spotlight originally appeared in the Winter 2017 issue of MMC Magazine and has since been updated.