What is your job title/your role at Scottish Rite for Children?  
I am a certified physician assistant (P.A.,-C.) in the Orthopedic department.
 
What do you do on a daily basis or what sort of duties do you have at work? (You can also include a brief description of your department)
I see patients in the clinical setting, obtain their histories and perform physical exams, as well as diagnose and treat/manage their conditions. I work alongside my attendings, nurses, orthotists, prosthetists, physical therapists, occupational therapists and child life therapists.
 
What was your first job? What path did you take to get here or what led you to Scottish Rite? How long have you worked here?
I began my career in the medical field as an X-ray technologist for four years, but I eventually went back to school to be a physician assistant with a great interest in orthopedics. After PA school, I worked in the orthopedic department at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans for four years. I later married a Texan and followed him to Dallas. I did not know much about Scottish Rite at the time, but I did know about the Tachdjian’s Pediatric Orthopedic textbook written by Dr. Herring and the Scottish Rite medical staff, which was the bible I would routinely reference while working at CHNOLA. Having the opportunity to work at Scottish Rite and personally learn from Dr. Herring and Dr. Johnston has been an honor. I’ve been at Scottish Rite for almost 10 years now and consider the people at work here as my family.
 
What do you enjoy most about Scottish Rite?
I love the culture and everything Scottish Rite stands for. What I enjoy the most is the opportunity to take care of the children and their families without having to turn a family away because of the family’s social-economic status.
 
Tell us something about your job that others might not already know.
One of my new roles at Scottish Rite is assisting my attending in surgery. I feel fulfilled, as I now have the platform to fully practice as a physician assistant.
 
Aside from necessities, what one thing could you not go a day without?
I must say my morning cup of coffee is one thing I cannot go a day without. I work at Scottish Rite full-time and am a mom to three little girls. My day does not end until they are all asleep.
 
What is something that always makes you smile?
Seeing how much my girls adore their daddy makes me smile. I know I made the right choice in life when I married my husband. He is an amazing father and role model for our girls. I know they will grow up to be kind, thoughtful and strong women.
 
What’s one fun fact about yourself?
Despite giving my husband food poisoning in the first year of our marriage, I think I have become a very good cook thanks to Pinterest and frequent calls to my mother!
 
How do you identify within the Asian American and Pacific Islander community?
I’m a daughter of immigrants that fled during the war and am a first-generation Vietnamese American.
 
What brings you joy about your heritage and culture?
The deep sense of belonging to both my family and the larger Vietnamese community. It brings me joy to get together with my friends and family and sit down for a meal. Growing up, my family and I would sit down for dinner every night regardless of how late my parents might come home from work that day.
 
Favorite travel destination?
Destin, Florida. We look forward to our road trips to the beach every summer. I truly enjoy making these lifelong memories with our girls.
 
Favorite meal or special recipe?
I make baked teriyaki salmon probably once a week because all my girls love to eat it without a fuss. It’s a quick and easy meal and the girls enjoy building their own creations of rice, cucumber and fried eggs that they hand wrap in seaweed.