Meet David Nguyen, MD

Dr. Nguyen was born in Florida to a family that immigrated from Vietnam after the war. From humble beginnings, he graduated co-valedictorian of his high-school class. Even at that young age, he had an inkling he wanted to be a doctor, but wanted to experience a broad education and majored in biology and psychology at Duke University. Affirming that a career in medicine lay ahead, he attended medical school at the University of Florida where he discovered his passion for primary care. From there, he completed his family medicine residency in Asheville, NC, serving as chief resident his final year. Throughout his training, he participated in medical mission trips to Ecuador, India, and Honduras. After completing his board certification, he briefly worked at an urgent care, an occupational health clinic, and a bariatric clinic. He then settled into a family doctor position in Eugene, Oregon for nearly 10 years where he developed strong relationships with his patients. He also has made time to volunteer at WhiteBird medical clinic and Volunteers in Medicine clinic. Additionally, he has served on the Board of Trustees for the Lane County Medical Society. 

Work-life balance is very important to Dr. Nguyen. When he is not working, he enjoys being silly with his wife and two boys. Being outside energizes him, whether that be hiking, photographing nature, or caring for the 100+ hazelnut trees on the family property.  His international travels have taken him to many parts of Central/South America, Asia, and Europe. He can be a bit of a geek, especially about technology that can help society be more environmentally sustainable. Finally, he loves learning and trying new things, and this keeps him endlessly busy.

As a primary care physician, his medical training has been focused primarily on “evidence-based” medicine. This means that Dr. Nguyen typically follows guidelines from the US Preventative Services Task Force, CDC vaccine schedules, American Academy of Family Physicians, etc. However, he also acknowledges that “Western Medicine” does not always have the complete solution and he supports some types of complementary and alternative medicine.  He respects the mind-body connection and how it can affect a person’s health. Dr. Nguyen believes in the power of education—when patients know more about a condition, medication, or treatment, they become more engaged and more likely to follow-through with the care plan. Experience has taught him that his job is not to make one-sided medical decisions for the patient; instead, his goal is to educate and present risks and benefits of medicines or treatments leading to shared decision-making.  While medications have their role in modern healthcare, one of Dr. Nguyen’s favorite tasks is to take people off medications when patients have met health goals or are moving towards them.  He strongly believes in the old adage “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Finally, Dr. Nguyen recognizes the importance of health equity in primary care and thus aims to provide high quality care regardless of age, ethnicity, race, religion, and sexual orientation/identity.