Dr. Van Nguyen: Holistic Medicine ‘Practice Makes Perfect’

Dr. Van Nguyen Melds Western And Alternative Medicine Here For Dr. Van Nguyen, M.D., opening her family and alternative medicine practice in Pacific Palisades last November 5 represented the culmination of a lifelong journey that began in Vietnam. When she opened Holistic Medical Clinic in the U.S. Bank building on Sunset, Nguyen had arrived at a place in life where she could expertly apply both conventional Western medicine and alternative methods to treating a broad range of ailments. ‘My practice is rooted in three parts: body, emotion and spirit,’ Nguyen says. ‘The body manifests symptoms because it is stressed by physical factors (germs, food allergies, nutrition), psychological factors, or spiritual factors. This is why it’s important to treat all three. And the magic of alternative medicine is that I can get all three parts to de-stress by using seven healing techniques.’ Call it a case of ‘practice makes perfect.’ Everything came together for Nguyen while she worked at a San Francisco-area general medical practice, after she received her degrees from UC Davis and the University of California, San Francisco. Until then, she felt dissatisfied merely applying Western techniques. ‘I’ve always been a seeker and interested in spirituality,’ says Nguyen, who spent her medical-school years traveling the world. After an early childhood in Saigon, Nguyen and her family”an aviation-engineer father, a pharmacist mother and a younger brother”left Vietnam, spent a year in Amiens, France, then settled in Garden Grove, where Nguyen’s parents resumed their white-collar professions. Nguyen slipped uneventfully into American life, with few negative memories of her Vietnam past. ‘My parents really sheltered me from the war,’ Nguyen recalls. ‘I remember sometimes we didn’t have rice to eat and we had no electricity after 6 p.m. But I was always surrounded by cousins and grandparents. ‘After Saigon fell and the Communists took over, they closed down private enterprise. So they shut down my mother’s pharmacy and she was sent to work in a balloon factory. Everyone was expected to be blue-collar workers because the Communists wanted to do away with class distinctions.’ Until that point, Nguyen’s father had worked as the head engineer at T’n Son Nhut International, Vietnam’s largest airport. ‘He was sent to re-education camp,’ Nguyen says. ‘He told me some horrific stories which made me think of them as similar to concentration camps. One day, for example, my father was sent out with other prisoners to collect land mines. Every day, for the longest time, he never knew whether that was the day that he would be blown to bits. Someone he knew would lose life or limbs. When he was released from the camp in 1979, he escaped by boat with the waves of boat people fleeing from Vietnam.’ His family later followed. In the U.S., after completing her medical residency, Nguyen joined a private practice in Sausalito, where she learned about alternative medicine. She moved to Los Angeles last August and began exploring locations as far south as Laguna Beach for her practice. But when she visited a friend who lived in the Palisades, she fell in love with this area. ‘I always say that the Palisades found me first,’ Nguyen says, chuckling. ‘It’s not only beautiful on a physical level, but there’s also a strong energy here.’ Like many people here, Nguyen became enamored with the psychological aspects of working in the village’-the small-town vibe; an oasis removed from greater Los Angeles. She is also impressed with her clientele, ages 4 to 80. ‘My patients are smart. They ask questions. They read. They want to be involved in their own health care. An educated patient is an empowered patient.’ Nguyen is board-certified in family medicine, including adult medicine, child care, women’s health, travel medicine, urgent-care services, and preventative medical care. She also practices alternative medicine, specializing in applied kinesiology, clearing emotional stress and traumas (NET), energy medicine, non-invasive allergy testing/allergy elimination (NAET), nutrition therapy, and Oriental medicine. ‘I’m probably one of the few doctors who combines the two,’ Nguyen says. ‘Western medicine asks, Why are you sick? Alternative medicine asks, Why are you not healing? ‘I have great respect for Western medicine,’ she continues. ‘It is a powerful tool to have around, especially for emergencies. If you break a bone, you’ll need a medical doctor. If you have a heart attack, Western medicine might be the only thing keeping you alive. It is in the realm of chronic conditions and disease prevention that alternative medicine shines. ‘Western medicine is still the best tool to suppress the symptoms. But you also need to get to the root of the cause of the illness, and that is where alternative medicine really comes in.’ At Nguyen’s practice, alternative medicine goes hand in hand with Western medicine. Once she identifies the client’s problems, she presents a full range of options. She can handle just about anything–from delivering babies and counseling autistic children to treating viral infections, chronic pain, migraines and acne–‘You name it, I’ve seen it! I never have a dull day,’ says Nguyen, who can also prescribe help and medicine to cope with anxiety, depression and phobias. In addition, people (especially young women) have been coming to Nguyen for help with weight-loss issues. Good nutrition is key, but not enough, she says. ‘You have to talk about digestion. You can be put on a diet until you’re blue in the face, but if you are not digesting properly, it’s not going to work. You’re not what you eat, you are what you can digest and absorb.’ After focusing on nutrition and digestion, ‘I start asking about the person’s emotional stress,’ Nguyen says. Nguyen uses herself as an example of how a person’s emotional environment can have a profound impact on one’s physical symptoms. ‘The best therapy for any kind of healer is actually loving your job,’ Nguyen says. ‘When I was an unhappy doctor [in San Francisco], I was constantly tired, I never felt recharged.’ Today, Nguyen feels energized”Life here is full of adventures, new horizons, interesting people!”and loves helping Palisadians conquer their afflictions. ‘I feel very grateful that I am able to help my patients,’ she says. ‘I believe so much in my vision of holistic care, and I believe in my clinic. I believe that the patients are ready for a different kind of care.’ That vision is the result of her open-minded philosophy, and a creativity that stems from childhood. ‘I used to play piano,’ Nguyen says, laughing as she recalls taking those lessons. ‘And I loved to draw. But I only drew faces. Portraits. I guess I’ve always been really interested in people.’ (The Holistic Medical Clinic is open Monday through Friday at 15247 Sunset Blvd., Suite 206. Same-day appointments are available. Call (310) 460-9220, or visit www.doctorvan.org.)