MEMBERS
DR. Who
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
MANUEL GRIMALDI, MD
Aaron Burch
A
lthough he’s come far from his Spanish birthplace some
4,000 miles away, Dr. Grimaldi still carries wisdom from
his childhood. The lessons of his youth still guide his
actions today. to love in the more mechanistic specialties. “You don’t have to talk
to the patient to take out their gallbladder,” he said. “At the time,
my practice was a Tabula Rasa, a blank slate. I’d write on it and fill
my life.”
Some 73 years ago, he was born in the village of Marchena near
Sevilla. His parents were stricken and died of tuberculosis when he
was just a toddler. They left the young Dr. Grimaldi, an only child,
at the mercy of good relatives. In Spain during the early seventies, each newly-minted doctor
had a required military obligation. After his fourth year, Dr. Grimaldi
began to attend what he described as military summer camp. His
first year was on the basics of being an infantryman. The second, he
was accepted into the Medical Corps to graduate as a medical officer.
“My aunt Angeles brought me to the province of Cadiz, near
Gibraltar. When I turned nine, my grandfather who had been my
guardian died,” he recalled. “So, I was put in a boarding school, a
kind of orphanage to fulfill my parents’ desire that I could get a
proper education.” The boarding school was a formative learning
space. Known as the “Oratorio Festivo de Jerez,” it was a Salesian
house which had two mottos: “Pray and Work,” and “Serve with Joy.”
“It was an open school, but there were 40 of us who lived on
the premises. We became family. The support of those wonderful
people guided me,” he said proudly.
As a boy, he dreamed of ensuring the illness that befell his
family never happened again. “I’ll do something in life that there
will be no more orphans. That’s what guided me,” he explained.
“Of course, I did not succeed. But, when I was innocent and pure,
that’s what I thought.”
After completing a seven-year Baccalaureate program, Dr. Gri-
maldi began his six-year medical school journey in 1965. Joining
him on this journey was Encarnita, his high school sweetheart.
Dr. Grimaldi smiled instantly at the mention of her name. “We
never knew any other person. We were 15 when we said, ‘I like you.’
Nine years later we were married.”
When he was young, he knew that to succeed in medicine would
require a perfect combination of preparation and opportunity. “I
was very happy to be in medical school and learning. I knew where
I wanted to go and who I wanted to be,” he said.
Enticed by patient care and healing, Dr. Grimaldi found little
“After I graduated, I was asked to serve as a military doctor for
six months caring for the recruits, treating immunizations, colds,
bad feet, emotional distress, everything. There was a commander
and captain serving who were supposed to practice alongside me,
but they were not always available. I was green and 26,” he said.
Luckily, his superiors recognized his hard work and released him
after just four months.
As his studies concluded, Dr. Grimaldi familiarized himself with
a nearby US Naval Station. He visited often to shadow Dr. Piero
Sandri, a Lt. Commander on board. Dr. Grimaldi had learned a
little English during his formative years, moonlighting in a sher-
ry-shipping company, studying American textbooks and reading
the British Medical Journal. It helped him immensely as he tried
to soak up knowledge from Dr. Sandri.
“My quest for excellence drew me to America. Everything seemed
more efficient, and my opportunities for success were more limited if
I had stayed in Spain. I passed my qualifying exam before I graduated
from medical school and was granted the green card. Encarnita and
I were married in October 1971, and in June 1972 we leaped into
the American dream. We had each other, two suit cases and $300.”
Dr. Grimaldi and Encarnita landed in New York City at John F.
Kennedy Airport with orders to move directly to Louisville. They
were flown by helicopter to Laguardia Airport, passing over the
World Trade Center as they looked upon the city. The moment
was iconic for the young doctor, and one he still thinks fondly of
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