UGA Alumni Interview: Minh Do

By Lisa Dinh

  • What is your name, your status in Medical School, and where are you from?

Minh Do, MS3, Emory University School of Medicine, Evans, GA

  • What motivated you to become a doctor?

I started of being interested in medicine due to personal life experiences. My younger brother was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when I was four while we were on a family vacation. I had no idea what that meant, but it really did change my family’s life. It was a scary time for my family, and seeing how much of an impact medical professionals had on my family’s well being left had a key part in my decision to pursue a career in medicine.

  • What are some UGA-specific activities/events/etc that all students should try? All premed students?

Do something abroad, whether it is studying abroad, volunteering abroad. You make memorable life experience when you put yourself in a situation you have never been on. When you travel to a new culture, you gain a better appreciation for yours and also where you come from.

  • What’s your method of balancing work/life/school?

I think finding balance in life and as a student is very challenging. In class or in the clinic, you spend most of the day studying in the library, in the operating room, or taking of patients. However, I am a fairly active person, and I find that going to the gym is relaxing for me. I also try to do as much as I can outside of school. I am try to spend weekends volunteering at the First Tee, which is a junior golf program that focuses on both character and golf skill development, and also participating in various soccer leagues throughout the city. There is nothing better than playing a round of golf or a soccer match with close friends. I am also busy taking care of my dog Gatsby who can be a handful, but I love taking him on a run or to the dog park.

  • What are some of the hardest times/experiences you’ve faced so far on your path to medicine? How did you overcome these? What keeps you motivated?

Keeping the end goal in mind. Each long day or overnight call is challenging, but it serves a greater purpose. I have to keep thinking, that there are patients who are here for weeks at a time. Some are scared, lost, and confused. While others do better. As long as I try to pretend that each patient is like a dear friend or family members, I have no problem staying late to take care of them. I would hope others would do the same if that were me or my family members. The medical team who took care of my brother worked extremely hard to take care of not just him but my parents and even me.

  • What excites you about medicine?
The medical field is indeed very exciting. It is a dynamic field that constantly changes. As a evidence-based driven field, each year we are finding new and better ways to take care of our patients. There are always newer imaging modalities coming out that allow us to see in finer detail and provide more information to our patients. Most importantly, it is one of the few professions where your job is to literally take care of people. Now that is pretty cool.