By Adrienne Sylver

For Tom C. Nguyen, M.D., life is about opportunities, second chances and paying it forward. After all, it’s what he received when he fled Vietnam as a political refugee at the age of 4. Now, as an internationally recognized cardiothoracic surgeon, he vows to always fight for the underdog and the sickest of the sick, particularly when patients are told that they have no options left.

“Everyone deserves a second chance,” he says.

Dr. Nguyen was recently named chief medical executive and Barry T. Katzen Endowed Chair of Baptist Health Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute. He is also the director of Minimally Invasive Valve Surgery. He comes to South Florida from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), where he was chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Charles Schwab Distinguished Professor of Surgery. While at UCSF, he transformed the cardiothoracic surgery program as co-director of its Heart and Vascular Center.

Dr. Nguyen’s passion is minimally invasive surgery and valvular heart disease. He has spent more than 20 years researching the mitral valve and has published more than 300 peer-reviewed articles. He believes research and science lead to better patient outcomes.

“My dad and older sister and I came to Houston speaking no English. We were very poor and lived on rice, eggs and soy sauce,” he recalls. “My father has been my role model. He had been in the military and was also an engineer in Vietnam, but when we came to the U.S., he took whatever job he could find. He worked as a welder. He worked in a convenience store. One day the store was robbed, and he was shot in the shoulder.”

Fortunately, Dr. Nguyen’s father survived and went on to establish a large non-profit organization that assists other immigrants, a job his U.S.-born brother assumed when their father later died.

At a young age, Dr. Nguyen realized that their close-knit community cared deeply for each other. Neighborhood “nannies” stepped in to watch children while parents worked. Helping hands were never far away, for within these familiar walls, watching out for each other became woven into the fabric of daily life. From these experiences, Dr. Nguyen became aware that his success was not his own doing but was from support systems, luck, and many mentors. As world-renowned as he has become, it’s his humble beginnings that remain at the core of who he is.

“I had the chance to go back to Vietnam for the first time after I completed medical school,” he says. “One morning at the crack of dawn, I saw a young boy working tirelessly on a shrimping boat. I couldn’t stop thinking how that could have been me. We were about the same age. I wasn’t stronger or smarter. I was just luckier.”

Dr. Nguyen graduated from Rice University with honors in Economics. Following medical school at Johns Hopkins University, he completed a general surgery residency at Stanford University, a cardiothoracic fellowship at Columbia Presbyterian and a transcatheter fellowship at Emory University. As an innovative heart surgeon, he has performed many first in man operations.

Cardiac surgery was a draw for him, he says, because of its complexities and challenges. “I can zone out and get laser-focused,” he explains. “There are at least 100 critical steps in heart surgery with small margins of error. You need to be composed in the most chaotic environment.”

Synchronicity in the operating room is also vital to a superior-performing team and good patient outcomes. “It’s like a dance. Everyone has a role, and every person is vital to the team. You can’t be duplicating efforts,” he says. “If we work together as a team, we are unstoppable.”

Dr. Nguyen appreciates the partnerships that have developed from the Institute’s early years and as he leads the Institute through its next period of growth, he plans to build teams that will elevate cardiovascular services and enable the launch of new programs such as robotic heart surgery. Patient centered care, research and innovation will be core values of the Institute. He aspires to lead Baptist Health Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute to become the crown and jewel program for Miami and beyond.

He and his wife, interventional radiologist Gina Landinez, M.D., are the parents of two young girls. As someone who is keenly aware of women’s contributions to society, he is an active advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion.

The stories of hardship and the obstacles overcome by many immigrants and marginalized people resonate with Dr. Nguyen and give him special reason to appreciate the diversity of South Florida and that of his patients and their families.

“My experience shaped me as a doctor,” he says. “It’s a privilege and an honor to care for patients who have put all of their trust in you. When a patient comes back to me and says, ‘I’ve gone fishing again,’ or ‘Here’s a picture of me hiking,’ that is amazing. Getting them back to their families is magical.” Dr. Nguyen’s story, like countless others, is a testament to the transformative power of community, of fighting for the underdog, and of embracing the magic of second chances.