Bich-May Nguyen, MD, MPH, FAAFP, receives the Texas Academy of Family Physicians Diversity and Health Equity Leadership Award
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS — Bich-May Nguyen, MD, MPH, FAAFP, of Houston, has been awarded the Texas Academy of Family Physicians Diversity and Health Equity Leadership Award. Nguyen received the award during TAFP’s Annual Session and Primary Care Summit in The Woodlands on Nov. 9. The award honors physicians who advocate for health equity, encourage increased representation from groups historically underrepresented in medicine, or promote inclusivity in health care settings and organized medicine.
Through a series of grants from the National Institutes of Health, Nguyen works on research focused on increasing the COVID-19 vaccination rate among Vietnamese Americans. The three-year project also includes an intervention study with older Vietnamese immigrants and refugees with mild depressive symptoms. Through this project, she collaborated with community organizations to reach more than 30,000 people in person and over one million people online with education about COVID-19 vaccines.
Nguyen pitched and organized a special racism issue of the Family Medicine journal published by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, for which she served as guest editor in 2019. She has also written about affirmative action and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Nguyen is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Health Systems and Population Health Sciences at the University of Houston Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine. She is also the course director of Physicians, Patients, and Populations, which is critical in preparing diverse physicians to work with underserved communities in their future careers.
Family physicians like Nguyen are qualified to work in all major medical areas and trained to treat more than 90% of all cases they encounter. Family physicians care for patients of all ages.
The Texas Academy of Family Physicians is the premier membership organization dedicated to uniting the family doctors of Texas through advocacy, education, and member services, and empowering them to provide a medical home for patients of all ages. It has 33 local chapters and is a chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Visit www.tafp.org for more information.