Patient Care Spotlight: Dr. Minh Nguyen

Dr. Minh Nguyen joined the faculty as an assistant professor on Aug. 1, but he is familiar with the department. He completed his ophthalmology residency at UW in 2022. He returned to UW after completing a fellowship in cornea, external disease, and refractive surgery at the world-renowned University of California, San Francisco/ F.I. Proctor Foundation.

Born in Vietnam, he came to the U.S. at age 19 in 2007. He attended community college to become proficient in English before enrolling at UCLA, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology.

“It was disorienting at first, coming from Vietnam alone,” Nguyen said. “I went to community college in Cupertino and lived with a host family. It’s funny, but I really learned English from reading Harry Potter and watching Grey’s Anatomy.”

After graduating from college, he worked in a lab for two years and thought he might become a pediatrician. Breaking out of his comfort zone in LA, he accepted a full scholarship to medical school at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

“I had done cutting-edge research on epigenetics at UCLA, and I was fortunate to continue this work in medical school using CRISPR-Cas9 to generate retinal cells from induced pluripotent stem cells. These experiences and the awesome mentorship at UW Madison got me interested in ophthalmology,” he said.

He visited the Seattle VA as a medical student in Wisconsin and was impressed. He was matched into the UW residency program in 2019.

Then, the COVID-19 pandemic happened, and the residents were on the front lines.

“We had such an awesome class of 2022,” he said. “It was a very uncertain time, and we supported and pushed one another.”

In residency, he learned he liked to do corneal transplants and ocular infectious disease, so he went to UCSF/Proctor Foundation to complete a fellowship in cornea, external disease and refractive surgery.

After fellowship, he practiced at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California for a year before accepting the position at UW.

Dr. Nguyen’s approach to patient care is grounded in treating each individual as a cherished member of his own family, not merely as a case of illness. He is committed to their holistic well-being, addressing not only their eye health but also their mental and emotional needs.

Dr. Nguyen and his wife, Chau, have two children. In his free time, Dr. Nguyen enjoys hiking and mushroom hunting with his family and delights in exploring tidepools at the beach.