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The Vietnamese Cowboy and the Race Car Driverby April Sutton
One fled Saigon. The other fancies fast cars. Yet they have many similarities. Aside from the fact that Dr. Thao Truong, class of '95, and Dr. Ralph Martin, class of '48, are from different cultures, live in vastly different locales, and are nowhere near the same age—they both graduated from Baylor College of Medicine and went on to serve their communities as general practitioners in styles that could be considered rather Rockwellesque. They share a common philosophy they say they learned from BCM faculty—always listen to your patients because being a doctor is about more than just passing out pills. While Martin opted for the hustle and bustle of West Coast city living, Truong gravitated toward rural Texas. Martin has spent his career in Pasadena, California, and Truong, in Junction, Texas, a berg fringed by prickly pear cactus and one of the gateways to the Texas Hill Country and the flat barrens of the great Llano Estacado. Being a physician is never easy, but both Truong and Martin know that it takes a lot of heart and patience to help their patients. And they do—just in, well, different ways. From the War Zone to Honky Tonk America
"If you ask me the one moment that I decided to become a doctor, it was when I was 15 years old and I read the book Ben-Hur. There's a part in the book about the leper, and when I read that I knew that I wanted to become a doctor," said Truong. Truong's family remained in his hometown of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), where they were unexpectedly split in 1975, during the intense closing days of the Vietnam War. As Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese armed forces, Truong's father and older brother, Phillip, left for the United States, leaving the others behind. In 1983 his father sponsored the rest of the family and they were reunited in Portland, Oregon, where Truong lived for five years, graduating from Portland State University in1988. His next step? He left for the Lone Star State, where he took a job as a biology assistant at the Texas A&M veterinary school for a year, before applying to Baylor College of Medicine in 1990. Graduating from BCM in 1995 with an M.D., he then completed his residency in family medicine in 1998 at UTMB-Galveston. Truong followed with clerkships in the rural towns of LaGrange, Angleton and Jasper, where he gained an appreciation for small town life. This led him to Junction where, as he likes to say, "everybody knows his name." "I love it in Junction," said Truong. "I love the close knit aspect of the life and the practice. People in small towns are more appreciative of a doctor's work." In December 2003, Truong joined the Junction and Menard Medical Clinic in the small Hill Country town located 120 miles northwest of San Antonio. As one of three full-time family medicine physicians, he averages 10 to 15 patients a day, which he says is not unusual for being so new to the area. He not only provides his services to the clinic, but he also stays busy by working in the emergency room and the hospital. Although he treats all types of patients and their ailments, his true joys are pediatrics and mental health. "If things work out I envision that I'll be here for a long time," Truong said. "I get to know everyone that I treat on a personal level, and I think that makes the patients feel better." Truong admits that his hectic schedule doesn't allow for much free time, but when he gets a minute away he enjoys riding his bike and searching the Internet. "I collect classical music and in the past five years I have developed a taste for traditional country music," said Truong, who takes pride in wearing his white Stetson. Truong attributes a lot of his success to the faculty at Baylor College of Medicine, but to one man in particular, BCM cardiologist Dr. James Alexander. "He still believes in the old but not outdated art of listening to the patients, performing good physical examinations and using technology when it's appropriate," said Truong. "He taught me that good medicine involves the maintenance of good health as well as treating sickness. This is the major reason why I decided to become a family physician." Revved Up and Running a Practice
"My plan is to retire when my head no longer works," Martin said. "I've had four joints replaced and I'm still driving the race car. The only way I would stop is if I lost my hearing, because communication is the only thing that I can't do without. I just love to work." Martin became fascinated with racing cars at the tender age of 14. He joined the Porsche Owner's Club in 1954, and now, about five times a year, he revs up the engine of his 1970 black Porsche 9146 and tears up the tracks at Willow Springs International Raceway or Fontana Speedway. "I've never crashed," Martin said. "Driving to the track on the freeway is more dangerous than racing cars." He opened his private practice in internal medicine and endocrinology in Pasadena in 1954, after finishing his residency at Huntington Memorial Hospital. Martin, who was born in Santa Ana, Calif., runs the clinic with the help of his wife of 18 years, Randi, and two longtime staff members, Alicia Ballinger and Susan Burmingham. When Martin walked through the doors of UCLA in 1942 he had no intention of becoming a doctor. He wanted to be a lawyer. But after taking a few premedical courses, thinking that they might be useful for law school, he decided on medicine. "There weren't any doctors in my family and my father was a building contractor, so I never thought about being a doctor," Martin said. "But when the war came along I had a choice, I could go out to sea, I could join the army or I could stay on and become a doctor." He joined the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1942, and started medical school at Baylor University College of Medicine in 1944. Martin graduated in 1948, and went to Hawaii to serve for a year as a shipyard medical officer. He completed his residency at Huntington Memorial Hospital, and then worked in a Veteran's Administration Hospital in Wadsworth, Calif. Martin normally sees from 20 to 40 patients a week, and in the past five years, he has become completely unaffiliated with HMOs and other medical groups. "If I kept on doing Medicare I don't think that I'd want to practice, because I'd rather spend time talking with the patient, writing about the patient rather than filling a form out so I won't be sued," Martin said. "I don't like the HMOs because the volume is the only thing that they care about. What I like to do is take care of the number of patients that I can see, give them quality care and be available for them." In November of 1996, Los Angeles Magazine named Martin as one of the "Best Doctors in America." Martin has his eyes set on being the longest practicing doctor in Pasadena. |
Patient CareResearchThe Next Step in Cancer Research EducationHalf a Century Later... They're Still Giving Back Community ServiceFrom Despair to Hope: BCM Responds to Katrina Alumni & DevelopmentThe Vietnamese Cowboy and the Race Car Driver A Fortunate Life... A Fight Against Cancer College NewsA New Door for the East Campus New Museum to Showcase Maestro of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine: Making a Difference in the Community
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Volume 1, Issue 3, Fall 2005 |
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| Last modified: December 12, 2005 |
Truong, 41, grew up in Vietnam during the chaos of wartime, which added to his burning desire to help people.
Most people marvel at the fact that at age 81, Dr. Ralph Martin continues to see patients in a practice he has nurtured for more than a half a century. He says he has no intentions of abandoning his some 1,000 patients any time soon.