About Karl T. Nguyen, MD

I was born into the communist country of Vietnam, where boys at the age of eighteen are required to serve in the Viet Cong army. My parents fled the country with my sister and I on a tiny boat carrying many others. When the boat's engine stopped running, we drifted for ten days and ten nights. From starvation, sickness, and no medical care, two people died on the journey. On the eleventh day, a U.S. Naval Carrier rescued and took us to the Philippines. After living in a refugee camp for seven months with minimal medical care and resources, we finally arrived in the United States in July of 1981. By the age of seven, I had regained my rights, freedom, and health. Through these experiences and thoughtful considerations, I decided to pursue a career in medicine. I first became interested in plastic surgery when I saw my first TRAM flap as a surgical intern. The multidisciplinary culmination of science and art is what interests me the most about plastic surgery. More recently, my experiences with microsurgery, craniofacial, burn, and hand surgery confirmed my fascinations and solidified my desire to become a plastic surgeon. To become a successful surgeon, one must have a strong work ethic, an intense desire to succeed, a sense of confidence, and the ability to relate and communicate with others. Since coming to America and not knowing the language or culture, I have worked hard to achieve excellence in both academics and athletics. At the University of Florida, I graduated as Magna Cum Laude in Chemistry while organizing and participating in intramural sports and numerous social activities. During medical school at the University Of Florida College Of Medicine, I was involved in several clinical researches while maintaining high standards academically. During my general surgery training, I was fortunate to have the privilege of being trained by two prominent professors in plastic surgery, Dr. Tom Roberts and Dr. Luis Vasconez. Dr. Roberts and I also co-authored various articles in the Clinics in Plastic Surgery, a premier plastic surgery journal, under the title ""Gluteal Augmentation."" One of the published articles, "Universal" and Ethnic Ideals of Beautiful Buttocks are Best Obtained by Autologous Micro Fat Grafting and Liposuction, focused on large volume micro fat transfers from unwanted body areas to enhance the fullness of the buttock.