“There’s a lot of ways you can help people, there’s a lot of ways you can help society, there’s a lot of ways you can do good. But medicine is and was, at the time when I was thinking about it, this special way of using all of that knowledge...to really help people on a day-to-day basis.” - Dr. Pham
Dr. Martin Pham, a Vietnamese neurosurgeon and assistant professor at UC San Diego in California, was an interviewee whose Instagram page I randomly stumbled upon earlier this year (@martinphammd). Needless to say, his page was totally enthralling. Dr. Pham shares his medical journey in such a creative, comprehensive way. His page is littered with fascinating stories of both the beauty and sadness behind his career and the path it took for him to get there. Upon seeing his page, I knew I wanted to interview him, and luckily, he allowed me to.
Dr. Pham knew he wanted to become a doctor when he was in high school. Around the age of fifteen or sixteen, Dr. Pham spent his time volunteering at hospitals. He predominantly aided the nurses by managing the doors and retrieving food and water for patients. One day in Dr. Pham’s volunteering experience really stood out to him, though. “I was manning the nurse’s station when one of the nurses came out and she had, like, a baby in her arms. And she said, ‘Martin, would you like to help me feed him? His name is Vincent, he’s recovering from pneumonia.’” Awe-struck, Dr. Pham held and fed the baby. Dr. Pham does not have any siblings, so he had never experienced the intimacy of holding a child before. While holding and feeding the baby, the wheels turned in Dr. Pham’s brain as he realized he wanted to become a physician. “Holding this bundle of something in my arms was incredible for me… It seemed like such a simple thing, but I remember it sort of coalesced why I wanted to go into medicine.” The more he ruminated with the idea of becoming a physician, the more Dr. Pham realized how becoming a doctor tied together two things he loved: biology and helping people.
A few years later, Dr. Pham attended UCLA for his undergraduate degree. While deciding his major, Dr. Pham knew he wanted to study something biology-related. “I liked the idea of cells and all this other machinery, so that’s what I ended up studying in college.” Due of his love of biology, Dr. Pham majored in Molecular Biology (known as an MCDB major at UCLA). Dr. Pham explained that going to college helped to solidify his desire to become a physician.
After taking the MCAT and graduating from undergrad, Dr. Pham attended the beautiful Northwestern University in Chicago for medical school. During this time, Dr. Pham had to forgo other life-events to pursue medicine. He described this as the most substantial sacrifice, as while he was studying for classes and exams, he spent time away from his friends, family, and hobbies. “Just as I was finishing medical school, some of my friends were already, you know, in their jobs. They had careers, maybe they bought a house, starting families, and I’m still right in the middle of what I want to do.” Most physicians talk about how they lost aspects of their twenties to medical school and residency. These sacrifices are something pre-med students are encouraged to consider before pursuing the field.
Once he graduated from medical school, Dr. Pham attended the University of Southern California (USC) for his seven-year neurosurgery residency. Neurosurgery is a particularly strenuous residency, though Dr. Pham looked upon his time at USC with a positive attitude.
To complete his impressive string of higher education, Dr. Pham attended Columbia University in New York for an optional neurosurgery fellowship.
I asked Dr. Pham about the obstacles he experienced during his medical journey, and his response was nothing short of beautiful, “The real obstacles I think were just obstacles that most people face going into medicine, which is just the long path and all of the stuff you have to learn and the sacrifices that everyone makes... I think a lot of it is probably perspective. I don’t, and have never really considered, the things that I’ve encountered as obstacles, you know? And to be honest, I don’t think they are.” Despite the hardships Dr. Pham has experienced throughout his medical journey, such as paying off his student debt and coming from a low-income, single-parent household, Dr. Pham has consistently managed to maintain a positive, open perspective on the field and on his life.
Dr. Pham listed two role models as vital to his medical journey: his college science professor Dr. Jeanne Perry and a Dr. Kenji Muro he shadowed during medical school.
Dr. Jeanne Perry was the professor Dr. Pham spoke with most about his classes once he proceeded into his upper-division courses. “And I think, like most of her students, she took an interest in me… I think the way that she taught and the way that she pursued science was just a great way, especially for a young college student, to see the world in a very scientific way. And she was a really nice person, too, so that always helped.”
Dr. Pham met the neurosurgeon, Dr. Kenji Muro, in medical school. He acknowledged him as one of the best mentors he’s ever had as a neurosurgeon. During his first year of medical school, Dr. Pham reached out to the neurosurgery department and received a response from Dr. Muro. Corresponding with this neurosurgeon gave Dr. Pham the opportunity to watch neurosurgery live in the OR. To quote Dr. Pham:
“Before, the idea of going into neurosurgery or being a neurosurgeon… I didn’t know what that meant, you know? It just looked like something to pick off a sheet or something to look up on a website. But here was a person in front of me who was a neurosurgeon, but he was also just a really nice guy. And that began to shape, I think, what being a physician meant, right? So I realized that when you think of certain professions, like being a police officer or a firefighter, you know, you put on a uniform and become that person. It made me realize that being a physician is actually the other way around. Physicians are also just people who care about what they do, and [they] spend all their time doing what they’re doing, and they’re able to do it. But at the heart of it, they’re still just the people that we interact with day in and day out, no matter if they’re the ER doctor, or neurosurgeon, or cardiothoracic surgeon, or pediatrician. Behind it all, they’re just people trying to help people, too. And I think he really solidified that thought in my mind.”
Dr. Pham explained that he had other role models along the way, but none as substantial as Dr. Jeanne Perry and the neurosurgeon he met in medical school.
As for advice Dr. Pham would like to give to high school or pre-med students, here’s what he said:
“I would say that the best advice I can give is to really keep going. It is a long road, especially when you’re in your late teens and early twenties, and you’re thinking of… medicine or you’re thinking of becoming a physician, and you look toward the future and you start counting the years. It seems like a long time. But I think if you take a step back, you realize that along that path, you’re actually doing what you want to be, right? So for example, if you’re pre-med in college, one way to think about it is that you have to study all of this stuff to take exams to take a test to get into medical school to become a medical student, and then you can become a medical student so you can become a doctor. But becoming a physician is all of that. So what you’re doing now as a college student is what you’re going to do when you’re a physician. Studying that and learning all of that is what I still do. So I think you can take comfort in knowing that the… habits that you’re developing now and what you’re doing now is exactly what you’re going to be. So thinking of yourself as a physician now is also one way to think about it.”
“It is a long road, but it’s worth it. I think sometimes if you… focus on some people who are a little bit less happy or less satisfied about their job in healthcare or becoming a physician… they’re out there, kind of people who regret it or burnt out. And it’s true. No job is perfect; no career is perfect, and as you head into medicine, you start to see… that medicine is far from perfect. But I think as most of us have that idealism, if you were to think back at the heart of it, it’s still the same, right? So if I were to think back at my original reason of why I wanted to become a physician when I held that baby, right? That is still what I do every single day… Now are there insurance issues, do they (physicians) have to deal with office staff, are there emergencies, is [the] government hindering access? Yes, all that is still there. But the idealism is also there, too.”
I’m beyond grateful that Dr. Pham reached out and agreed to an interview. His story issensational and inspiring for aspiring physicians and neurosurgeons. I love speaking with doctors like Dr. Pham because they help strip the daunting stigmas behind their profession.
If you’d like to read more about Dr. Pham and/or would like to see his incredible Instagram page, you can follow him at: @martinphammd.
Happy Sunday, everyone. I hope you all have a lovely week.
E.F.