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Larry Nguyen's life today—being an orthopedic surgeon, playing tennis, cycling and raising his family in Little Rock—is quite a bit different than it might have been, had his family not escaped from Communist Vietnam when he was four years old. "My parents had contacts in the government, so they bribed a fishing boat captain to escape, and were able to get passes to go to Canada," Nguyen explained. "We lived on that boat for a month."

His father was an attorney who worked for the U.S. Courts in Saigon, his mother had worked for the U.S. Embassy, and his grandfather had once been Vietnam's ambassador to France and England, so their escape was easier than some people's was according to Nguyen. Originally, his family had come from North Vietnam, but had escaped the Communists a generation before to find safe haven in South Vietnam. In 1974, they had to take refuge again, this time leaving their country altogether for someplace entirely different and unknown. After a month at sea, the family immigrated to Canada.

After three long winters, Canada was just too cold for the Nguyens. In search of more temperate weather, they moved one more time to Houston when Larry was seven. Houston was much more to their liking, and Nguyen grew up there, attending first Rice University (Class of 1992) and then Baylor Medical School (Class of 1996).

Nguyen said that because all his uncles are physicians, that's what he always intended to be. "There was never a question in my mind about that. I was bred for it," he laughed. "It's in my blood."

First, though, he majored in electrical engineering and computer science at Rice, working summers for Compaq Computers. "I was good at math and sciences, Rice was the top engineering school, and computer science was the hot degree at the time," he said, admitting that his years in medicine have had an atrophying effect on his computer expertise. "Now, though, my eight-year-old daughter is probably better on the computer than I am," he laughed.

He said that engineering training paid off in medical school, particularly when he discovered the intricate structures of orthopedics.

"There's a lot of biomechanics involved that goes back to my engineering degree in terms of the structure of the foot and the alignment of the bones and ligaments," he said.

Nguyen fell in love with orthopedics while doing a research project operating on rabbits, and to this day, his specialty remains the many tiny bones in the foot and ankle. "I liked building models when I was younger, and I still really enjoy working with the smaller bones," he said. "I guess I haven't changed."

Nguyen did his residency at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, and then returned to Houston for a fellowship in foot and ankle reconstruction under Donald Baxter, MD.

Although they had planned to make a life in Houston, Nguyen and his wife Loren found they missed Little Rock, so in 2002 he returned to the city to practice at OrthoArkansas, where he is now president.

He said OrthoArkansas, which works through Baptist Health System, operates on a hefty percentage of the state's major orthopedic trauma injuries, and Nguyen is a strong advocate of implementing a statewide trauma system in the near future.

His own work varies from simple sports fractures on young athletes to major reconstructions and an increasing number of diabetic patients needing amputations.

Nguyen is a leading expert in the region on the new Tournier total ankle replacements, which he says are a great improvement over the previous model. "The new ankle replacement has a more anatomic design," he explained. "It looks more like your ankle, and moves more like your ankle. It has a smaller incision, faster recovery and heals better."

He is also a leading provider of the non-invasive OssaTron treatments for chronic pain resulting from plantar fasciitis or Achilles' tendonitis, which he said for many patients are preferable to surgery.

Maybe it hearkens back to his month at sea as a young refugee, but Nguyen is an avowed reef-keeper. Besides the 100-gallon and 25-gallon saltwater fish tanks in his office, he has a 300-gallon tank at home.

When he has free time, Nguyen enjoys spending it outdoors. He has recently taken up cycling again—he was on Rice's racing team years ago—and though he doesn't get to golf as often as he'd like, manages to play tennis at least once a week.

Most of his time though is spent between doing the work he loves and spending time with the family he loves. He and Loren are parents of three children: Megan, age 8; Mathew, age 4; and McKenzie, who was born only a few weeks ago.

"The kids take up most of my free time now," Nguyen said, "but that's as it should be. I don't mind a bit."

Tags:

Baptist Health System, Baylor Medical School, Larry Nguyen, OrthoArkansas, OssaTron, Rice University, Tournier, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock

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