Roy Vongtama
Encyclopedia
Roy Vongtama is an American professional actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 as well as a Board certified Radiation oncologist
Radiation oncologist
A radiation oncologist is a doctor who specializes in the treatment of cancer patients, using radiation therapy as the main modality of treatment. Radiation can be given as a curative modality, either alone or in combination with surgery and/or chemotherapy. It may also be used palliatively, to...

. He resides in Santa Monica, CA
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...

.

Acting

Acting since 2001, Vongtama first appeared on ABC's
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 reality show The Ultimate Love Test. He has since appeared on television in episodes of the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 show Windfall, the FX show The Shield
The Shield
The Shield is an American television drama series starring Michael Chiklis which premiered on March 12, 2002 on FX in the United States and concluded on November 25, 2008 after seven seasons...

, as well as a recurring
Recurring character
A recurring character is a fictional character, usually in a prime time TV series, who appears from time to time during the series' run. Recurring characters often play major roles in an episode, sometimes being the main focus...

 role on TLC's
TLC (TV channel)
TLC is an American cable TV specialty channel which initially focused on educational content. Since 1991 TLC has been owned by Discovery Communications, the same company that operates the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and The Science Channel, as well as other learning-themed networks...

 Untold Stories of the ER. Filmwise, he is a lead actor in the recently completed independent feature, The Wrath. Vongtama appeared in Warner Bros's 2007 feature, The Bucket List
The Bucket List
The Bucket List is a 2007 comedy-drama film directed by Rob Reiner, written by Justin Zackham, and starring Academy Award-winners Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman...

, starring Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...

 and Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...

. He trains currently at The Actors Space with Acting coach Joe Palese. Vongtama has just been announced as a recurring character on General Hospital: Night Shift
General Hospital: Night Shift
General Hospital: Night Shift is an American prime time serial that first aired on SOAPnet for a 13-episode run from July 12, 2007 to October 4, 2007. A spin-off of the ABC Daytime soap opera General Hospital, the show is SOAPnet's first original scripted drama series and follows the nighttime...

, and will be seen as Dr. Boyd, starting in Episode 3, Paternity Ward.

Vongtama has signed an audiobook Books on Tape
Books on tape
Books on tape may refer to:*audio book: recordings of literary material read out loud.*Books on Tape: electronic music artist from Los Angeles, California....

 deal to be the featured reader for I.J. Parker's murder mystery series featuring the character Sugawara Akitada
Sugawara Akitada
is a fictional character and a hero in a series of detective/mystery novels written by I. J. Parker, set in the Heian period of ancient Japan.-Introduction:The character lived in 11th century Japan, and came from a family of scholar-officials...

. Dragon Scroll
Dragon Scroll
is a 1987 video game that was released exclusively in Japan for the Family Computer.The game is non-linear and operates almost like a sandbox game. A fan-made translation patch has been made available by King Mike Translations in 2008. Many video games helped to influence this video game, including...

, the first title, is due out June 2008.

Medicine

Vongtama graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Biological Basis of Behavior from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 in 1996 with a 3.74 GPA. His research there included work on depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...

 and differences with respect to acculturation
Acculturation
Acculturation explains the process of cultural and psychological change that results following meeting between cultures. The effects of acculturation can be seen at multiple levels in both interacting cultures. At the group level, acculturation often results in changes to culture, customs, and...

. He then graduated from SUNY Buffalo School of Medicine in 2000 with his medical degree. While there, Vongtama was elected president of the medical student body in 1998. He then did his internship in Internal Medicine
Internal medicine
Internal medicine is the medical specialty dealing with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of adult diseases. Physicians specializing in internal medicine are called internists. They are especially skilled in the management of patients who have undifferentiated or multi-system disease processes...

 at The Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia, PA in 2001. His studies continued at UCLA where he finished his residency training in the field of Radiation Oncology in 2005. His research includes work in head and neck cancer
Head and neck cancer
Head and neck cancer refers to a group of biologically similar cancers that start in the upper aerodigestive tract, including the lip, oral cavity , nasal cavity , paranasal sinuses, pharynx, and larynx. 90% of head and neck cancers are squamous cell carcinomas , originating from the mucosal lining...

 as well as CNS
Central nervous system
The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that integrates the information that it receives from, and coordinates the activity of, all parts of the bodies of bilaterian animals—that is, all multicellular animals except sponges and radially symmetric animals such as jellyfish...

 cancers.

Personal life

Vongtama grew up in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park
Orchard Park (town), New York
Orchard Park is a town in Erie County, New York, a suburb southeast of Buffalo, New York. According to the 2010 census, the population is 29,054. This represents an increase of 5.13% from the 2000 census figure. The town contains a village also named Orchard Park. Orchard Park is one of the...

. He went to high school at the Jesuit institution Canisius High School
Canisius High School
Canisius High School is a Roman Catholic Jesuit private high school for young men. Canisius located at 1180 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, New York, United States, just north of the Delaware Avenue Historic District. Founded in 1870, the school has historical ties to Canisius College...

 where was the salutatorian
Salutatorian
Salutatorian is an academic title given, in the United States and Canada, to the second highest graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. This honor is traditionally based on grade point average and number of credits taken, but...

 of the 1992 class. Vongtama lettered and was captain of the golf team, swim team and tennis team his senior year. He won the league championship in tennis in 1992. He is fluent
Fluency
Fluency is the property of a person or of a system that delivers information quickly and with expertise.-Speech:...

 in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 as well as proficient in Thai
Thai language
Thai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...

.

External links

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