Boy Wonder

   The next time you feel like you’ll never be through with college, think of James Nguyen.

   A graduate of Santa Ana College, Nguyen has been pursuing his higher education for 14 years. If he has his way, he’ll be at it another six. 

   Nguyen is already an award winning cardiologist, a goal he set for himself. And he’s only 26 years old.

   Do the math. Nguyen started college at age 12.

   Frustrated by the pace of his elementary school classes, Nguyen struggled with behavioral and academic problems until his mother, SAC employee Ilene Nguyen, pushed to get him into more challenging classes. By the seventh grade, Nguyen wanted to go to college.

   A chance encounter with Pete Maddox, then president of the board of trustees for Rancho Santiago Community College District, catapulted Nguyen towards his goals.

   “We met at a staff barbecue,” said Maddox. “His mom was telling me how he wanted to go to SAC, but the middle school principal wouldn’t release him.” Maddox spoke to the chancellor, who met with Nguyen and was impressed by his potential. SAC administrators convinced the middle school principal to release Nguyen, who was admitted to the campus as a freshman.

   “I felt a little awkward, initially,” says Nguyen. “I didn’t know what to expect. I thought everyone would treat me differently, but they didn’t. Eventually I assimilated.”

   Nguyen flourished, becoming a student senator and even a tutor. He earned his associate’s degree at 14 and went on to pre-med at UCI.

   The challenge, for Nguyen, came during medical school at St. George’s University in Grenada.

   “For me, undergrad was easy,” said Nguyen. “Even at UCI, it was totally doable. However, when I got into medical school—these kids were smart. They blew me away. I always want to be the top but at this level, there’s always someone who outshines you.”

   Most recently, it was Nguyen who outshone his peers. In April, Nguyen captured the prestigious National College of American Physicians Championship at the 2009 Internal Medicine Conference.                 

   After winning at the regional and state level, he was selected out of 420 competing physicians for his research on the use of Multidetector Computed Tomograph Angiography for evaluating patients with atypical chest pain.

   If Nguyen’s findings gain widespread acceptance, the expense and time involved in emergency cardiology assessments could be cut in half for some patients.

   Now finishing his residency at Orlando Regional Medical Center, Nguyen will spend the next year at Arizona State University, serving as Chief Resident for the Department of Internal Medicine. To specialize in cardiology, Nguyen must also complete a three year fellowship program. “If this is your dream, if this is what you want to do, don’t stop,” Nguyen advises aspiring medical students.

   “It’s worthwhile; it’s very prestigious and rewarding. Of course, I have my disappointments. If I have a patient that codes [suffers cardiac arrest], sometimes I can bring that patient back but sometimes I can’t. That really gets to you. But in the end, that’s the course of life. I know I can’t save everybody.”

   Nguyen’s mother, Ilene, still works for SAC. “I’m so proud,” said Ilene. “He deserves all the credit because he did all the work. He’s accomplished so much for his age. The foundation received here at SAC set him in the right direction. ”

   “Just think how important these students are to our society,” says Maddox, referring to gifted students like Nguyen, who need flexibility to pursue atypical educational goals.
   “Everyone who knows James knows that he will be a world-renowned heart surgeon someday. And to think, we could have

lost him.”