LSU medical school student’s experience with COVID-19
By now you’ve heard all about COVID-19—the insidious virus responsible for the global
pandemic—from its severe symptoms to the demographics of those at risk. The statistics
are frightening, but they’re not as relatable as a personal account.
After contracting the virus in early March, Cindy Nguyen, a medical student at LSU Health New Orleans and graduate from the College of Science and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, joined us for an interview—even with lingering COVID-19 effects. In this episode she describes the testing process she went through along with her symptoms, like water tasting sweet, and how she’s recovering. We also catch-up on her medical school program, her exciting internship and ways this experience is influencing the physician she aspires to become.(Transcript below.)
Listen to the full episode below, and subscribe to LSU Experimental on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn or anywhere you get your podcasts.
LSU Experimental is a podcast series that shares the research and the “behind the scenes” stories of LSU faculty, student, and alumni investigators across the disciplines. Listen and learn about the exciting topics of study and the individuals posing the questions. Each episode is recorded and produced in CxC Studio 151 on the campus of Louisiana State University, and is supported by LSU Communication across the Curriculum and LSU College of Science. LSU Experimental is hosted by Dr. Becky Carmichael and edited by Kyle Sirovy.
Transcript
Becky Carmichael
[0:01] This is LSU Experimental, where we explore exciting research occurring at the Louisiana State University and learn about the individuals posing the questions. I'm Becky Carmichael.
We've heard about COVID-19 the insidious virus responsible for the global pandemic, the severe symptoms, and the demographics of those at risk. The statistics are frightening, but not as relatable as a personal account. Cindy Nguyen, a medical student at LSU Health New Orleans and graduate from the College of Science and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, sheds light on her experience with COVID-19. Cindy contracted the virus in early March, and in this episode, she describes the testing process she went through, along with her symptoms, like water tasting sweet. We also catch up on her medical school program, her exciting internship and how the COVID experience has influenced the physician she aspires to become.
Cindy, I'm so glad that you agreed to join me during our quarantine sessions recording here in my closet. I've been really excited to catch up with you. So you just said that you are in your second year now?
Cindy Nguyen
[1:24] Technically, yes. I'm about to start at the end of July when we start classes again. Yeah. So, and you're in the MD-MPH program, correct? Yes.
Becky Carmichael
[1:36] Oh, my gosh. All right. So how have classes and things been going for you?
Cindy Nguyen
[1:40] Oh, it's good. Um, as you know, like, I took a gap year and in that gap year, I, you know, the entire time that I was working, I was like, Oh, I really want to get back to school. I don't like you know, just working. I want to be able to think about things I want to study and then I get to school and it's just, yeah, it was a shock. A little bit. It's a lot of work, but I like it.
Becky Carmichael
[2:00] So in comparison to undergrad, what are some things that surprised you with this transit kind of in that transition?
Cindy Nguyen
[2:08] Yeah, the amount of work is so much more every, every test feels like a final in undergrad. You can imagine what actual finals, like in med school, feel like, it's just, it's so much. But the professors are really supportive. So I, you know, and all my classmates have also been so supportive. So I feel like, you know, I'll be okay.
Becky Carmichael
[2:33] And do you have a smaller cohort of people that are with you? So do you really get to know your who's all in your graduating class?
Cindy Nguyen
[2:41] Um, I didn't.
Let's see. All the people I talk to the most right now or the people who are also doing the MD MPH program with me, because you know, we spent so the summer before med school actually started we spent a summer taking 16 credit hours of public health courses and we just really bonded over, you know, that eight week session so that by the time metal actually started, we were kind of already really close knit, we were a click, you know, we understand the struggle, we're in this together. So those are my people.
Becky Carmichael
[3:14] That's awesome. So I see two ways I can take this. But actually, I want to talk to you a little bit since the last time we talked, it was right before you were going into med school. So...
Cindy Nguyen
[3:26] I hadn't gotten accepted yet when we talked, I think we're in the process of applying and maybe just waiting for an answer. I'm not sure.
Becky Carmichael
[3:33] I thought you had gotten accepted. But you know,
Cindy Nguyen
[3:35] Maybe I did.
Becky Carmichael
[3:36] You are in that space. Right. So since you've since you've kind of you're in the flow right now, you've taken those public health courses. What has been your favorite course so far? And then which one has been like the oh my goodness, this one is, this one's serious.
Cindy Nguyen
[3:55] Yeah. Okay. So well, my favorite public health course. I think so far So I'm specifically concentrating in behavioral and community health. So anytime I get to focus on that, as opposed to like epidemiology and statistics and natural like numbers, when I, because, you know, I was also a sociology major, so anytime I can think about the community in a broader sense, that's what I love.
So we, I recently had a course on program evaluation that I really loved. You know, so you create a program, trying to help out a community trying to serve them in any capacity, but the entire time you have to be evaluating it, you have to take into stakeholders opinions, you have to just really be able to monitor and evaluate how your program is going and be able to adjust quickly your feet, you know, how can we change this? How can make it even better? I think
Becky Carmichael
[4:49] It's been really great. Oh my gosh, so because of this particular area that she's been in, and with your concentration
Cindy Nguyen
[4:58] Yeah.
Becky Carmichael
[4:59] How As this global pandemic, and what has gone on how has that been for you, in terms of as you're learning in public health, and, you know, you say community and behavioral aspects. How has this process been for you? How is this experience?
Cindy Nguyen
[5:18] This is public health inaction. I'm seeing people, you know, work day in and day out to try to get the word out. And at first, it was mainly focused on the epidemiology of it, you know, where did it start? How did it get there, you know, what are the numbers like, you know, all that stuff. But now as we're getting into phases of reopening and trying to encourage people to wear masks, that's kind of where my concentration plays in a little bit more. Trying to really encourage people and get them to understand the risks that they're taking. If they don't wear a mask, it's a struggle, but you know, it's a fight.
Becky Carmichael
[5:57] Have you been pulling or have you been learning from other historic or I don't want to call it historic. But have you learned about other types of actions that have worked in terms of changing public behavior or, or perceptions in terms of this, this area of study?
Cindy Nguyen
[6:14] Not necessarily, because this is a global pandemic, I feel like it's a whole other, a whole other situation. So when we were talking about program like evaluation and creation, we're talking about, you know, for this specific community, you know, that lives in this area, how can we best serve like, you know, maybe 200 people at a maximum? You know, we're now, we're talking the whole country, like, you know, the whole world, you know, even getting one city in Louisiana to kind of comply with a mass mandate. That's, yeah, that's hard.
Becky Carmichael
[6:50] It's hard. So, for the listeners that might not be clear, can you? Can you provide a definition for what it means to be in medical school and concentrating in public health, what does that entail? And how does that differ from maybe what they might assume is a general practitioner?
Cindy Nguyen
[7:11] Well, it means being in med school, so being able to treat an individual, but getting the Masters of Public Health, being able to see a community at broad and being able to, it helps to treat the individual, because you're seeing them as a whole. You know, you're this way. Yeah, you might have diabetes. But why do you have diabetes? Do you live in a community that doesn't have fresh food? How can we address that and then we can also address things like on a broader community scale. So if you were to go into some kind of general practice, and that's how you would apply it, if you were to specialize then if anything, it puts you into that mindset where you're always thinking about public health, right? Like even if you're thinking about specializing in surgery, or orthopedics, you can still be in that mindset. Okay? So why is their bone density, you know, lesser than, like normal, like does their community have a play into that somehow? And yeah, I just think it's a really cool intersection.
Becky Carmichael
[8:11] I think that it, it reminds me a lot of just the community ecology, right. So kind of looking at the whole system and everything that's interacting, that then leads to a particular situation that is presenting itself. When, how did you get interested in this particular aspect of the medical field?
Cindy Nguyen
[8:33] I would say it started just in undergrad because I did the dual degree in biology and sociology. I was kind of already on that, you know, on that, in that mindset, and I took a particular course in sociology called the Sociology of Medicine, where I learned more about the social determinants of health and that completely blew my mind. You know, things around you affect your health. It's not just everything that you do to yourself. It's the way that You and the environment work together and how that influences your health. So it just made sense for me to do the MD MPH together.
Becky Carmichael
[9:09] And I do think that it's interesting, and particularly at least in what we're seeing now with the global pandemic is, this is not just something that is at an individual level or even a core family level, because I know if somebody in your family in your household gets sick, then you know, yes, you passed amongst yourselves and then you know, it's usually okay. But something that's broader, the fact that you know, how we interact with each other, within our spaces within our environments, both local as well as maybe a little bit broader. We're really affecting each other and that network. And the whole idea of what you do matters to a broader space is really playing out to me, it's very obvious.
I wanted to kind of get into a little bit about you and your personal experience with COVID-19 first and foremost, I was when I saw that, you know, you had the you were featured on the news in New Orleans and you posted that on social media. You know, immediately for me, I was like, Oh my goodness, is she okay, I had that, that immediate worry, you know, and I'm glad to see that that you are but I was really interested to hear what that experience was like for you. So would you care to describe what were some of those beginning symptoms? And could you walk us through what happened?
Cindy Nguyen
[10:43] Yeah, so my story. So I started getting sick way early in March. So I was one of the first cases in New Orleans. So by the time I started getting sick, we weren't, we were still in school. You know, I like I stayed home from school. Obviously, I wasn't feeling too great. And everything is posted online anyways for us, so I was like okay, yeah, maybe I shouldn't be going to school right now but I had no idea that it might have even been Coronavirus I, you know, that wasn't at the forefront of our minds.
And I think I probably got it from going to Mardi Gras. I'll go into parades and whatnot.
So when symptoms started it just it really did just feel like the flu for me. And whenever I come down with the flu, I get a fever, fatigue and then there's this third symptom. I call it sensitive skin. It just feels like tingling all over and just anything I do just kind of it almost burns.
Becky Carmichael
[11:43] Oh my gosh.
Cindy Nguyen
[11:44] Yeah. But that's that's a very normal thing for me. Like anytime I get the flu or just come down with a really bad cold. That's exactly how I feel. So I thought you know, maybe maybe it's just a cold and I remember telling Van that, you know I texted him one night I told them Oh no, I think I think my skin sensitivity is like, here. I think I'm getting sick. Um, yeah. So it just started like that. And then by the fifth day, that's when my breathing became really shallow. And I started kind of getting shortness of breath [unclear] like this. Yeah, this is not like the normal flu for me. You know? That was the scariest part, I think, because everything else I dealt with before, but I've never dealt with shortness of breath. And then I remember so I have one of those beds that I can control with but the remote and it'll like lift me up and yeah, so I had to sit. I had to sleep sitting straight up because I couldn't breathe at night.
Becky Carmichael
[12:48] Oh my gosh.
Cindy Nguyen
[12:49] It was pretty bad. And then one night, my roommate comes into my room and she's like, Cindy, we have to go to the ER are you, like, it sounds like you're sobbing. Hear, you know, and it was just me trying to catch a breath like I like even sitting straight up. I could not breathe like it was. It was pretty bad.
Becky Carmichael
[13:09] So you so I want to back up and say, do you care to share how old you are, Cindy?
Cindy Nguyen
[13:14] Oh, I'm sorry. I'm 24.
Becky Carmichael
[13:16] You're 24. All right,
Cindy Nguyen
[13:17] So I was 23 at the time, but I'm 24 now.
Becky Carmichael
[13:21] Well, Happy birthday, belated birthday. Also, oh my goodness. Okay, so 23, 24 years old. And you're there with your roommate and your roommates, the one that could hear your, your labored breathing.
Cindy Nguyen
[13:35] Right.
Becky Carmichael
[13:36] Oh, wow. So I'm assuming you went to the ER, then.
Cindy Nguyen
[13:43] Yeah, I went to the ER and again, this is so early in March that, you know, they did a chest X ray. And we're like, we don't really see anything that's too abnormal, but we can't rule out the possibility that it might be COVID but it could also just be bronchitis But that doesn't sound likely for me at all. And they didn't have any tests in the hospital. So they couldn't test me even if they wanted to. They did do a flu test, and that came back negative. So it wasn't the flu. And they were just going to discharge me. Just like that. And I'm like, okay, whether or not it's COVID I don't care. All I care about right now is the fact that I cannot breathe. What can you do about that? Um, they just prescribed me an inhaler that I had to get the next morning. So I went home that night, you know, I tried to sleep sitting straight out, but it was. Yeah, I think that was the worst part of my whole experience.
Becky Carmichael
[14:48] So I can relate somewhat. I deal with reactive airway. And so this was something that came on around, what, 2016 for me, and I'm over 40. So just to kind of give the age range, right, but that particular sensation of not being able to catch a full breath and feeling like your chest is constricting or it's full. I personally know that well when this hits me that I can't get that full breath one, it makes you very concerned. Right? And then you start I guess you become more aware of that struggle to get to get oxygen so I can't, if you've not thinking about when you first experienced this kind of symptom, it's scary regardless, let alone then if you're in this bubble, and and they're not even giving you Albuterol or breathing treatment, they're in the ER, because those those at least breathing treatments help a little bit open your airways up, but ...
Cindy Nguyen
[16:00] Yeah.
Becky Carmichael
[16:00] … having to wait then another night?
Cindy Nguyen
[16:02] Yeah.
Becky Carmichael
[16:03] Relying on an inhaler.
Cindy Nguyen
[16:05] Mm hmm.
Becky Carmichael
[16:06] Okay.
Cindy Nguyen
[16:06] Yeah. Once I got the Albuterol inhaler, it helped a little bit. But I just wish they would have done something that night. I don't know, it was just crazy. But I think everyone was just, no one really knows what's going on. Again, this was so early. They didn't have tests. They told me that if my fever continued, then I could go to an urgent care the next day and get tested there. That's what we did. My other roommate drove me to the urgent care. We get there and they tell us sorry, like they just changed the rules an hour ago and can only give out tests unless you are another healthcare professional. And you have to have had contact with someone who is a confirmed case. So had I been there an hour early for a medical test, but yeah, they just turned us away. We couldn't do anything. And then luckily for me, the roommate who took me to the ER the previous night she had, she has some connections. And I was able to go out to another urgent care out in Slidell. You know, like, if she hadn't had that connection, I wouldn't have been able to get tested at all.
Becky Carmichael
[17:18] Oh my gosh.
Cindy Nguyen
[17:20] Um, so then I went out to Slidell and I got tested at that urgent care. They did another chest X ray there again, they couldn't really find anything, you know, they were like it. I mean, all your symptoms sound correct. But like, we're just not seeing anything will kind of treat you for pneumonia. But also do this COVID test because we have it and you know, but those results didn't come back until a week later. At that point, I was on my way to recovery. I think my fever stopped for about three or four days. You know, I was kind of feeling back to my normal self. The results come back like oh yeah, you were positive. Like Well, that's great to know.
Becky Carmichael
[18:02] Now.
Cindy Nguyen
[18:03] Now, yeah.
Becky Carmichael
[18:06] Yeah. So what was it? What was your temperature? Like? was that? Was that that kind of low grade fever that they're talking about? Was it under like 101? Or ...
Cindy Nguyen
[18:18] Yeah, it was. It was low grade. I wasn't really taking my temperature too much.
Yeah, but when it broke, I think I got up to like, 101.7. Maybe that's when they tested me in the ER. But I think earlier that morning, I'd taken a Tylenol, so I don't know how that affected it. Yeah, I did have a fever, there were night sweats.
Becky Carmichael
[18:42] How long did you experience the symptoms that were associated with it?
Cindy Nguyen
[18:49] So 10 days, to march 17.
Becky Carmichael
[18:53] Would you say that the scariest one was the shortness of breath?
Cindy Nguyen
[18:56] Yes, um the scariest ... also, I didn't mention this, but anytime that I tried to take a deep breath that was the only time that I would start coughing so they mentioned, like, coughing being one of the symptoms. I was never having a dry cough unless I did try to take a deep breath. And then I'd cough. Yeah, yeah, absolutely the scariest.
Becky Carmichael
[19:18] Oh Cindy. So let me ask you, you're there with your roommates, your roommates driving you around. Your family's not around, are they?
Cindy Nguyen
[19:26] No, they are in Baton Rouge.
Becky Carmichael
[19:29] They're in Baton Rouge.
Were your roommates able to kind of keep not contracted?
Cindy Nguyen
[19:36] Oh, yeah, they're fine.
Becky Carmichael
[19:37] They were fine.
Cindy Nguyen
[19:38] Nothing ever happened to them. I wasn't even completely isolating myself in my room. I was still using all of the shared spaces in our house. But they're completely fine. I don't know what it is.
Becky Carmichael
[19:50] Oh my gosh. Well, I'm glad for them. And, you know, I'm glad that they didn't have this. How are you feeling now and have you experienced anything that you consider, like lingering effects after that 10 days of COVID?
Cindy Nguyen
[20:06] Yeah, so when I started recovering it felt almost immediate. I felt like I was bouncing back to normal. There were a couple days that I was still monitoring my breathing. I was like, Okay, I still don't feel completely 100% right now, but I but we're getting back up there. My lung capacity is getting a lot better. until maybe about a month ago. I wouldn't call it shortness of breath, but it was kind of like a tightness. And I was and maybe it didn't help that I was kind of starting to panic. You know, I was having a feeling in my chest. Oh, no, it's back there lingering effects. I might have started panicking. It might have made it worse. I'm not sure but I still have the inhaler on me. So I use that. And that helped a little bit but it's just yeah, it's just so hard to know if I'm actually 100% back to normal.
Becky Carmichael
[20:58] Wow. So you, also I heard that, the news report you mentioned that your sense of taste was kind of off. What was the weirdest thing with that, like I hear people have said that they haven't been able to taste any food but then did you say water tasted sweet or something?
Cindy Nguyen
[21:15] Yeah, yeah. Okay, so food, food was fine. It just wasn't appetizing at all. And then water. Yeah, but water was really sweet. So it made me not want to drink water. I didn't want to eat so I was starving and dehydrated. You know, it was just the worst and Van because he lives in Shreveport. He would have food delivered to me, you know, like he was trying to take care of me from far away that food delivered. And it's food that I wanted, like, and I asked him for it, like I'm really feeling tacos right now, that's all I want. You know, I really want to tacos right now. So we got tacos, had them delivered and then I took a bite of it and I'm just not feeling it. It was completely unappetizing. And I just, I could not eat. I just felt so bad because I told him I wanted tacos.
Becky Carmichael
[22:10] Well, yeah, and shout out to Van for, you know, taking care of you and especially from that far away. Wow, Cindy, this is, you are not the first person I've spoken to about their experience. You are one of the younger people that I've spoken to that have dealt with this. And it is interesting. You're saying that you probably it was probably something that originated Well, at Mardi Gras. I mean, in Mardi Gras something that, you know, we go to those parades and it's fun. We didn't, we didn't think that this is the thing that might result from that.
Cindy Nguyen
[22:51] Right. But even if we had known about it, then I think I still would have gone out because I really did think that like younger people, you know, like, it's not going to be a problem. You know, the people we have to worry about are the elderly and immuno-compromised. You know, I'm young, I was working out like every single day up until the time I got sick. Like I, I would like to think I'm fairly healthy, but it just didn't work out that way.
Becky Carmichael
[23:20] So how has, how has your perceptions and how is your attitude change? Then after going through this, what are your thoughts now?
Cindy Nguyen
[23:28] Uh, by the time that my breathing was back to normal, and I felt recovered, I loved doing at home workouts. Just, you know, yeah, being able to like work my body. Just kind of like really appreciate the things that it can do. Yeah, it gave me like a newfound perspective on that. I'm gonna tear up. Oh, but yeah, I think that's um. Yeah, I think that's like the biggest thing for me.
Becky Carmichael
[24:00] I've been trying to find little light, like little positive, like the silver lining in this whole situation. And I do think that being more appreciative of health be more appreciative of what, what you can do, but also what you can do, how you can do those things without the extra things. So you don't necessarily have to go to a gym, you can do things outside, but then also appreciating that you still can do and what your functions and what what you're capable
So with the symptoms you need told me that, you know, you've gone to the ER, you went
to one urgent care you went to a second urgent care. You had gotten an inhaler. What
else did you do to manage any of these symptoms? Did they give you any medications
or were you kind of using over the counter stuff?
Cindy Nguyen
[24:49] Yeah, so at first I was just using Tylenol and DayQuil to keep my fever down. When I went to the second urgent care, they told me they were gonna treat it as, like, bacterial pneumonia. So they gave me a Z Pack. They gave me some other thing, right? I can't remember. Yeah. So I was kind of being treated for that. But we had Gatorade, so I tried to, like, keep hydrated, but I again, like I just didn't want to drink or eat anything, you know. And I knew mentally that I was like, okay, Cindy, your body's kind of deteriorating, and you should eat or drink something. And I just, my body would not. Let me do that. You know.
Becky Carmichael
[25:29] That takes on a whole new level of ... interesting is not the right word. But as a med student, I'm sure you because you've been learning about all of these other pieces than to be in that situation and understanding what you should be doing but yet you can't.
So in terms of school, do you have an idea of how many people within your cohort also experienced this or is it still primarily outside of the younger age group?
Cindy Nguyen
[26:01] I think within my friend group, I think ahead about two other friends who were sick, they never got tested. But you know, it seemed pretty serious. It seemed more than just like the flu. But again, they were like, around the same time I was like, early March, but because I had the connection because I could go get tested and like, I just feel so bad for like saying that, you know, I had the connections, I could go get tested, I, you know, I was able to know my status. They couldn't, they just kind of had to live with that. And I think there were other people in my class who were sick too. So it's, you know, it does affect the younger age group.
Becky Carmichael
[26:37] I'm glad that you mentioned that you recognize the, the fact that you were able to do thing, do something like that, and when others cannot, I think that that that is very telling of, of what we're experiencing now is, if you don't have if you don't have the right insurance if you don't have a means to get to a particular location or that particular location doesn't have test, then you may be positive but you're unable to find that out and what that could ultimately mean for you in terms of long lasting effects or even just even in the short term those those symptoms and how that can affect you what that means. Do you feel like you're pretty much back to normal?
Cindy Nguyen
[27:22] Health-wise Yes. But because we're still in you know, pandemic quarantine mode that's taken a different kind of toll on me you know?
Becky Carmichael
[27:30] Yeah.
Cindy Nguyen
[27:33] Yeah.
Becky Carmichael
[27:34] Yeah, that's … this has definitely been something I have this conversation on on the daily with my son is nobody's gone through this. And it's difficult to completely understand exactly that toll that it is taking. Are there things that you're trying to do to try to maintain your, your overall kind of goal mental and physical health and now at this time,
Cindy Nguyen
[28:03] Yeah, I'm, not to get too much into it, but like there is a school counselor and I've been talking to her a lot. You know, again, like you said, this is everyone's first time going through this, I'm sure she has her own stuff and like, you know, isn't sure how to handle this either, but she's been helping me, you know, in on my own, like, emotional and like mental stress. I'm still talking to all of my friends, you know, through Zooms through phone calls through you know, FaceTime that's, that's helped a lot, too. I've gotten, I've been cooking a lot more.
Becky Carmichael
[28:38] Yeah.
Cindy Nguyen
[28:39] I always like to cook anything, but I'm experimenting with more things. And it's just, it's been nice. Yeah.
Becky Carmichael
[28:46] I'm glad to hear that. So I do think that that's, that's something that's really important and is valued. If you can find a way in which you can take care of your mental health at this time and even if it is making those connections with friends and family, however that might look, I think that's important. I also, I support you going in seeing the counselors, a professional to speak with, because I think that this is the new. This is the new normal, right? You know, you're going through these stressful, traumatic, unknown times. And no matter where you are on that spectrum of experience, I think that having an outlet or somebody to speak to, to help guide you and help them manage that is really important.
Have you changed your behaviors or anything after this? Do you find yourself? What do you find yourself saying to others, when it comes to taking precautions against contracting this virus?
Cindy Nguyen
[29:49] Yeah, well, I'm, I'm just telling everyone I know to just take it seriously. And I've accepted every interview opportunity, you know, so I did the thing with the news. There was another interview with the governor's office, just anybody that I can tell my story to, I will tell them kind of just, like, as a cautionary tale, just, you know, it's not over. We don't know what the lasting effects are, like, I'm still, you know, a big proponent of social distancing wearing a mask, like stay home as often as you can like, yeah.
Becky Carmichael
[30:23] I'm glad to hear that.
Cindy Nguyen
[30:25] Yeah.
Becky Carmichael
[30:26] I think I think that it is something that we need to take seriously. And I know that again, to take a step back to this whole you know, how it takes a toll on your mental health. I do understand, you know, wanting to go and see friends and be around family and be able to be that to what we had as normal interactions. I mean, I longed for that as well. But at this point, I think it's, it's not just about your own health and what you think that your body can handle, but it's what happens if you expose someone else who can't and they don't get mad might even know if they can handle it right. I think a lot of times our sensitive populations don't always know they're in that group until it's triggered.
Cindy Nguyen
[31:14] And I mean, even with myself, I don't know of anybody but I don't know. You know how much and if that's enough to make sure that I don't get reinfected like I just I really don't know. So, you know, on some level is like a selfish thing. You know, I still want to continue protecting myself. I know that I, you know, eat at once but if I were to catch it again, like I really don't know. Yeah, I think there's anything right now.
Becky Carmichael
[31:41] Right! That's that's the other part like, how you know, you can get this again, this is not just a one time thing.
Are you in taking classes right now in the summer for .. are you still in school?
Cindy Nguyen
[31:55] Yes, yes.
Becky Carmichael
[31:57] No break is there.
Cindy Nguyen
[31:59] [shakes head] I've been in school. Nothing. Since last May. So right now I'm doing an internship course for public health. So ideally This summer I would have been in New Mexico working with indigenous healthcare. But now I'm just doing it virtually, ah, which is still great. I'm doing the work and I love the people that I'm working with, but it's not the same.
Becky Carmichael
[32:22] It's not the same, but I am glad that you're still able to be exploring that and being able to participate.
Has this changed your personal experience? Maybe the area of public health you are
interested in pursuing or do you have a particular niche area that you would like
to land in once you graduate?
Cindy Nguyen
[32:46] I don't think it changes the public health part but I think it does kind of influence what I want to do in medicine. So at first I was considering doing physical medicine and rehab so working a lot with, you know, stroke patients, patients with Parkinson's, stuff like that. But now I'm also considering infectious disease. Yeah. I mean, I always thought infectious disease. I'm like, all the microbes are really interesting. But I yeah, but now I'm actually, you know, considering it and yeah, it'd be interesting.
Becky Carmichael
[33:20] I see that area growing even more after you've gone through this.
Cindy Nguyen
[33:25] Yeah.
Becky Carmichael
[33:26] One of the questions I had asked you when I first interviewed you about going into medical school and advice you have for someone as they are pursuing that pre med path. Now that you've been med school,
Cindy Nguyen
[33:39] Yeah.
Becky Carmichael
[33:42] What would you tell someone that is pursuing pre-med, are there any updates or information you would share? That might help somebody that's, that's following your footsteps.
Cindy Nguyen
[33:57] Remember, in the last one, I said, don't get so caught up in, you know, being pre-med, going to med school. Have other interests outside of, you know, school itself, like, get involved in arts, you know, participate in any hobby that you love. And I think that advice still holds true to this day. Even in med school. We have a lot of our artistic people in our class and those are the people that you know that you want to be around, you know, you don't want to just have friends out of convenience because oh, they're also in med school so they can help me out with you know, this and that. You want to be friends with people that you can actually hang out with and like, have interests outside of this, you know, like it. This isn't just one aspect of who I am. And it should stay that way. And it's gonna get hard, and you have to treat it as such. You have to take it seriously. You're still in school, just one professional school. But at the same time, don't lose sight of who you are and what you love. Because those other things are going to get you through. Because med school is hard. You can study for two weeks for a final like test, like I said, and it'll still feel like you didn't do enough. You know, in the meantime, like, over the course of those two weeks if you can find time to do something else that you love, you know, you'll still feel fulfilled in the end I would say.
Becky Carmichael
[35:28] So, talk to me about then it sounds like you've said you've been experimenting with cooking. Do you find that that's kind of your outlet right now for that balance and what have you been cooking by the way?
Cindy Nguyen
[35:42] Yes, it does give me balance. It makes me wake up like early in the morning. Because everything is virtual, you know, like, I don't have to wake up for an 8am class if I don't want to, you know, I could watch the lecture later. But, you know, I still like having that routine and kind of waking up, breakfast, making coffee, that helps. And then I recently made a shrimp curry that I'm really proud of. And I'm really like, yeah,
Becky Carmichael
[36:12] That's exciting. There's always something for me about cooking. And I would call it my exciting lunch. So it no matter if I was working in the field or even you know, if I'm on campus and I'm, I'm in my, you know, my CxC role. Having my exciting lunch was something to look forward to. And no matter if I was having a cuddy day, or a fantastic day, I always tried to have an exciting lunch. Yeah, yeah, there's something about that food kind of part. And if you make it yourself, it's even better.
Cindy Nguyen
[36:47] Just like for yourself and again, because I hated food so much when I was sick. Like, I'm just like bouncing back to that, you know, no, I love food. Now. I love cooking more than ever, you know, like I love being able to do that for myself.
Becky Carmichael
[37:00] So what was one of the first things that you were able to enjoy after this? You remember that food or that dish?
Cindy Nguyen
[37:07] I don't remember. Oh, it was a snowball.
Becky Carmichael
[37:11] A snowball. Oh, that's crazy.
Cindy Nguyen
[37:13] But, uh, the first time that I felt okay with leaving the house and like still having a mascot and everything, I think it I've been recovered for about a week and I was getting a lot of professional opinions and advice, you know, like, is it am I okay, now I felt okay for you know, over a week is you know, can I do something? And we there's like a snowball stand, you know, within a 10 minute walk. So my roommate and I walked over there and we got a snowball.
Becky Carmichael
[37:43] Nice. Well, it's good. It's good that you were able to get out, you were able to walk over there. And yeah, that had to taste so good then.
Cindy Nguyen
[37:52] Yes, it did.
Becky Carmichael
[37:55] Oh, my goodness. Well, Cindy, is there anything that we haven't covered that you would want to share?
Cindy Nguyen
[38:04] So much has happened in the time we last talked.
Becky Carmichael
[38:07] I know. So, yeah. What else has happened then? Since the beginning and now I mean, this. I feel like you've got you've done a lot of things in between now and then.
Cindy Nguyen
[38:19] Yeah.
Like a big thing in my life is like being in a long distance relationship right now
with Van.
Becky Carmichael
[38:28] Yeah, how's that going?
Cindy Nguyen
[38:30] Ah, we managed it and all. So he was in Shreveport for a job, but he's quitting and he's going to start grad school in New Orleans. So in the end, he's going to move here anyways. But this past year, we were long distance and that was a whole other challenge, you know? But like we managed and we had weekly movie nights, you know, we get every Monday. We take a movie on Netflix and watch it together. We Skype and we pulled the movie and played at the same time we countdown to make sure we have the timing correct.
Yeah, and it's, like, it was just fun.
Becky Carmichael
[39:10] That's a big challenge. I did a long distance relationship for about eight months before I moved before I moved down to start graduate school here with my now husband. Um, and yeah, you have to, you have to find those ways in which you can stay connected and interact.
So it's good to hear that you both are doing well. You're finding ways to maintain the relationship, but I think that's something that others can hear is that, you know, it can be hard, there's challenges, but it can be done. So you've had this internship for this summer. Have you had any other internships?
Cindy Nguyen
[39:47] This is the first one. This is a part of the MPH, you have to do, like, a practice experience works. It's kind of like fieldwork. You know, you're working with another public health professional. Like, what does public health look like in the real world? So, yeah.
Becky Carmichael
[45:16] Yeah. Oh my gosh. And you said what you said this is part of it in New Mexico, you're doing this virtually though, can you describe some of the things you're doing for this internship.
Cindy Nguyen
[45:27] Yeah, so the organization is called Native Health Initiative and I'm working on improving the health of indigenous people. They have this really great program as a part of it called Running Medicine. So that program also had to be shifted to like a virtual thing over the spring. So, like, normally, I think three times a week, they would have met in some park and they would have had an opening ceremony and then they would have gone for a run together and running is really important in indigenous culture. Beyond just kind of like having that physical activity, it connects them spiritually and mentally because it's how to connect with the earth and their creator. So like it's a really important form of exercise, but also prayer for them. So that's why this program was so important.
So then, over the spring. They had to shift over to a virtual like season, since they would have Facebook Live videos where they would stretch out together. But then you know that video would end and then you just go out for a run like by yourself. So right now I'm just kind of looking at how that change affected the participants, you know, like it again. This isn't easy. You were part of, like, a really big group and you're running together and you're celebrating and praying together and now you're running by yourself or you're just running with your family. How does that affect your physicality, your spirituality and, like, also your mental and emotional aspects, so it's been really interesting.
Becky Carmichael
[47:04] That would be interesting to hear how would that what the effects of that has been because there is something about coming together as a community to do things, and both spiritually, as well as you know for wellness and you know just just for pure enjoyment. Right? That does, it feels different.
So you're doing, you're doing a study. Are you going to be able to, do you think to have results or some kind of results, either preliminary or final, toward the beginning of the fall, or do you get to keep going with this particular study long term?
Cindy Nguyen
[47:47] Hopefully it'll fit or soon. But I mean I. Ideally I would love to be able to continue to work with this organization, you know, throughout like maybe the rest of my like med school career at some point, I do want to drive out to New Mexico and meet the people that I've been working with virtually all this time.
I don't know what the workload will be like in the fall for me. Like, I’ve heard second year’s incredibly hard and challenging because you basically have a task every two weeks. So I would still like to be connected to them and do whatever I can. But I just don't know how much I'll be able to do.
Becky Carmichael
[48:28] So okay, so second year. What kind of courses are on your future horizon?
Cindy Nguyen
[48:35] Yeah. So we start with something called foundations. And I think that's where you're learning a lot of microbiology pharmacology, just kind of, you know, things to keep with you throughout all the second year. This is what … they have this disease, you know, and then after that I think we go into … Oh, it's neuro we do neuro next. So that's really exciting. I always loved neuro but now actually really seeing how hard it can be, like it's like a neuro course and undergrad. So by the time we got to the head of the next section of anatomy, this first year, you know, I thought, okay, this is great. This is my area. This is my jam. I can do this. And it was a lot harder than I expected it to be. So I'm expecting this neuro course this fall semester to be even harder.
Becky Carmichael
[49:24] So pretty intense. Looking back, what class for you was the most challenging?
Cindy Nguyen
[49:56] That was challenging ... I would say, I mean, well this past semester we took physiology. And again, I did really well in undergrad, but somehow, like in med school, it's just 10 times harder. Like, I don't get it. But that's also, again, that's the same time that I had COVID so but I can only blame so much on COVID, right. Like, I was sick for 10 days of the semester. Yeah but physiology was actually really challenging for me.
Becky Carmichael
[50:25] Probably helped that you had it in undergrad prior to also going into med school right like into this one, at least, is I would assume that, but
Cindy Nguyen
[50:36] In a sense, yes, because I've been exposed to it before, but maybe I was also getting too comfortable. But yeah, I think that's also another thing to consider. You know, like, I took this as an undergrad and I did really well and I learned so much. You know, maybe in med school, like not necessarily slack off, but, you know, just kind of. Yeah, I was just overly confident you know, I know this already. You know where I get the gist of it will be fine. I was not fine.
Becky Carmichael
[51:06] It sounds. It sounds to me like you always have to be, you can't be too confident, but you have to have the right balance right. You can't be too confident about it. You have to make sure that you're still on a level and ...
Cindy Nguyen
[51:23] Yeah, but also don’t underestimate yourself. You know you made it to medical school for a reason, you obviously can do this and other people decided that you're able to do this, you know, so just ...
Becky Carmichael
[51:36] It's that interesting balance that you have to walk. Right? And I think sometimes that line is really difficult because you either, you have to stay within that center and have kind of your guide posts or your checks. Right, so check yourself so that you're not falling victim to imposter syndrome, but it also checks your balance so that you're not just like, yeah, it's gonna be fine. And you don't go the other direction.
You know, we've been talking a lot about you know your sometimes in COVID, we've talked
a lot about kind of your thing, you know where you are med school, how things are
going. Through this experience, has there been something that has given, has enlightened
you on what you want to take in terms of being a future physician and maybe how you
can be at both you can help others when they come into your office or your, your practice?
Cindy Nguyen
[1:03:26] Right. So in med school, we talked a lot about how we can be the best physician for our patients. We do a lot of, like, doctor patient simulations. We pretend to be a doctor and try to figure something else out with their patient trying to like work them through a situation. But I think having COVID and being a patient myself. It's also taught me, you know, how to be a good patient, how to, you know, give a good history, how to really go into anything that I think is pertinent.
But also patient advocacy is so important. I mentioned before that they will just get discharged from the hospital, you know, if I hadn't said something if I hadn't stood my ground and been like, no, I can't breathe. Right now, you have to do something, then they wouldn't have given me, like prescribed me the Albuterol. So I think having that patient perspective and then bringing it into my studies and like my future career. I think it's gonna help me, you know, always think about the patient and I know that other people are studying the way I'm studying and they're not studying to become physicians. So they might not hit all the points in their patient history like I, you know, did when I went to the ER. So it's up to me, as you know, as aspiring physicians. You always try to continue to elicit that information and knowledge from the patient, you know, ask them questions that they might not have considered, you know, do you think that maybe this can have something to do with it. You know, like, what do you do as a job, you know, like, do you think that career path, somehow, you know, has affected your health and in a certain way. So I think that's really important.
Becky Carmichael
[1:05:03] I'm thrilled that you're saying this, I feel that, you know, having been with family and friends as well and hearing your experience. It feels sometimes that if you don't really continue to push and say, No, this is really something is wrong. This is something that's not right for me. Sometimes you're not ... It almost feels like you're dismissed and it sounds like that's, that's exactly what they were getting ready to do, and I hate to say that because I understand that, you know, medical professionals are stressed and they're overworked and they're exhausted.
But I think that that is an extremely important statement that, you know, how can we be better patients, how can we be bringing information and making sure that we're keeping, like ... I think you showed me you had like a list of your symptoms, having that list to take in, but then also as a physician. I do appreciate the fact that you're thinking. All right. How else do I need to talk to my patients? What else do I need to make sure of the questions I'm asking them?
And it's also making me more aware of, you know, okay, so I want to make sure that I have my list so that when I get that, you know, five minutes, maybe I do have with a physician, I can make sure I'm covering that I also find that right now with this particular virus, it's really crucial.
Because I, I still am not. I don't think that we are in a space where we're completely aware of all the different symptoms and how this is manifesting within the population so any of this that's different, or even if it's common needs to be shared. So we can get a better perspective, a better picture.
I'm glad we talked about this.
Cindy Nguyen
[1:08:40] Yeah. Yeah. And I like I've been a patient more than I've been like a fake, you know, doctor, and it's just yeah like you really have to like push for what you want, you know, and sometimes they might like kind of go to the most like common answer I would say, but you know as a patient. I know my body. I know that. I have a feeling that it's not this common thing that you're trying to diagnose it as I think it's something else. Can you look into it, you know. Yeah.
Becky Carmichael
[1:14:29] Cindy. I really always appreciate when I get to chat with you. This has been fun. And again, I'm, I'm so glad that you're feeling better. Good luck with the rest of the internship and keep me informed. I'm interested to hear what your findings are after, at the end of the summer on this. And Good luck with the next fall semester.
Cindy Nguyen
[1:15:00] Thank you so much. I’ll keep in touch.
Becky Carmichael
[1:15:02] Good!
Cindy Nguyen
[1:15:03] And you have the new email now, so yeah, I can keep you up to date on everything.
Becky Carmichael
[1:15:07] Yeah, it'll be good. Yeah. Alrighty, my dear, you. Take care. I'll talk to you soon.
Cindy Nguyen
[1:15:13] Okay. Goodbye, Dr. Becky
Becky Carmichael
[1:15:14] Bye.