This is a book by a Vietnamese-American doctor. I happened to know him through Youtube and then learned about this book. The author is not a professional writer, and this is his first officially published book. These factors allow us to expect even better works in the future.

Author Huynh Wynn Tran's Vietnamese name before coming to the US (1999) was Tran Huynh. I will use this pure Vietnamese name to refer to him in the article. This way, we can create more intimacy with Vietnamese readers.

I have read quite a few "reviews" of this book, most of which are comments from his "fans" on Facebook, where he posted a few chapters of the book, and from book publishers, where his books are sold. This means that those opinions are often given in a favorable direction, praising more than analyzing, and even in those compliments, there are few positive highlights that need to be mentioned in the work.

The book was written by Tran Huynh as a form of memoir, recounting the main journeys he experienced. Interestingly, many beautiful flowers and plants along the way were also recorded vividly by him, instead of just recounting the events in a dry way. This helps readers to go through the entire professional path of medical training with him without getting bored. In addition, the details or side stories that he recorded and included in the story always seem to send messages of love and positivity to life. This is the reason why I want to sit down this weekend to "ponder" his book. Moreover, behind a Tran Huynh who always struggles with harsh challenges on the path to becoming a doctor, we also see a soul full of emotions, easily moved by external circumstances as well as always caring for others and for the benefit of the community. His founding of VietMD, a non-profit organization to help doctors and medical students in Vietnam can be seen as a typical example of his community service spirit. Up to now, VietMD is still operating very well and has expanded quite a lot compared to its original scope of operation.

Now, let's review some aspects of the book, about the book's content as well as some other related issues.

Before "swimming out of the village pond" of Bac Lieu, Tran Huynh was a math major at the province's specialized school, not a bad start. Moreover, in that “village pond”, he proved himself to be a “carp” that was superior to the others by “passing the dragon gate” to enter the University of Architecture, which was also considered difficult for students from the provinces. However, unfortunately, “passing the dragon gate” like that in the current conditions of Vietnam does not guarantee that he will be “transformed into a dragon” as in the legend of “carp transforming into a dragon”. But another event happened to help him change that reality: His family was eligible to immigrate to the US. However, the decision to go to America was put in his hands by his father when he said: “If you really want to stay, I won’t force you.” At that time, Tran Huynh was a third-year student at the University of Architecture, always getting high scores, being in the “top” of the best students and receiving a lot of praise from teachers, admiration from friends, and had started a part-time job with a decent salary... Moreover, he confessed that he was in love. All of those things were factors that attracted him to stay. There was also the threat of the new land when he heard: “Many university students in Vietnam, even after graduating, had to drop out of school to do manual labor jobs like serving and waiting tables in America, which was very hard.” However, at the time of making this most important decision, I truly admired his father’s advice: “America is a country of opportunity and success, as long as you have the will and effort. I think you should go. I believe that you will be very successful in America in the future.” A father who puts his trust and expectations in his child is normal for any parent, but having never lived in America and being able to say that America is “a country of opportunity and success” is truly a far-sighted vision. Without his father’s correct judgment, we probably would not have a Huynh Wynn Tran in America today. Some people think that America is a paradise, and that just setting foot there can change their lives. But this is only half true, because America is only a paradise for those who strive to succeed. America gives us every opportunity to realize every dream, but America has never and will never easily bestow success or a good life on those who lack will and do not make an effort themselves. For those who lack effort and will, it is completely true that when they come to America they have to do “manual work like serving and waiting tables, which is very hard”. And Tran Huynh has become a person who has “will and effort” as his father wished. From a start in America where he had to “stammer” in English, making it difficult for others to understand, he has tried his best to gradually integrate and excel in a completely new and strange living and learning environment. As a result of these tireless efforts, he overcame the initial language difficulties, graduated from Muskegon Community College and “pushed the door” to enter the University of Michigan. I say “pushed the door” because it was clear that this door did not open for him by itself, but was the result of a process of hard work and training. It should be known that the results of student admission to universities in the US are not random luck or based on any external factors, but always based on the applicant’s past academic achievements. Although his difficult journey in the US did not stop here, it was clear that he had achieved a very important transformation since he first came to this country.

Then, studying and graduating from a prestigious school in the US like Michigan turned out to be just an unwanted stop. He graduated, worked in the architecture industry and realized the reality at that time that there would be continuous and long-lasting difficulties if he continued on this path. Another bold decision was formed and he proved that he had enough will and courage to carry out that decision: Give up the architecture industry.

However, when you have a new direction and give up the path you are on, it will be easier. Tran Huynh was not like that. He gave up the path he was on without knowing where he would go. Let's listen to him confide: “I know I don't want to be an architect anymore. What will I study now?”

Not knowing what to study, Tran Huynh knew for sure that he needed to study. The first condition for success in the US is still knowledge, no matter which path you choose. Working ability is the deciding factor for you to rise in any environment, and if you want to have good working ability, the most common path is still to study to gain knowledge. Innate talent can sometimes help some people succeed, but those are very rare cases, while in most other cases, knowledge is still the deciding factor.

And Tran Huynh began a new period of hardship to find a new way to accumulate knowledge after giving up the architecture industry. Facing financial difficulties when the government's scholarship support ran out, he began to struggle with all kinds of jobs to be able to "survive" before finding a new path. At that time, he only had a vague thought about the medical field: “I want to try pursuing this path.” However, after researching and considering, he quickly strengthened his determination by starting to study at Grand Valley State University (GVSU), majoring in Biomedical Sciences. This was a mandatory starting point for him to enter the medical field.

Tran Huynh made an effort and made a miracle when he graduated with honors from this school after only one year of study, compared to the usual requirement for all other students of 2 to 3 years. The door to the medical field appeared right in front of him but was still tightly closed and this time he was completely not strong enough to “push the door” to enter: out of 30 applications he sent out, he only received one acceptance from West Virginia Medical School, but this was a school belonging to the DO (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine) training system that he did not enter after considering. He admits that at this point, “I was clearly depressed.” But that didn’t mean he gave up. After the failure, he began to look back to find the cause and realized the shortcomings that had caused him to be rejected by almost all medical schools: He had no research papers and his MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) score was lower than required. So a new battle began. Research, while difficult, was still possible if he was willing to invest time and effort, but he kept failing the MCAT, and it took him three tries to meet the requirements. However, being aware of his shortcomings helped him adjust and make efforts in the right direction. Finally, he was able to “push the door” to enter the State University of New York Medical School.

But “pushing the door” also means that he has just begun on the long journey of training a doctor in the US. From a new student entering the school, Tran Huynh had to gradually go through the process of studying, researching, practicing, training... a process that lasted many years after that. All of this was recorded by him with many vivid details and provided readers with useful information and interesting insights into the process of training doctors in the US.

However, to fully appreciate all of this, of course, readers must read the book themselves.

Tran Huynh began his book by thanking his parents and family. Of course, he did not forget the other help from teachers, friends... but mentioning his family first shows how important his family is to him.

At the end of the book, in the "things left behind" at the end, he also mentioned his family with "deceased relatives", including his father, his grandmother...

And throughout the chapters of the book, every major event he experienced such as passing the university entrance exam, giving up the architectural profession or being accepted into medical school... whether successful or not, we see him mention his parents and family. In that way, the reader can feel the shadow of his family behind all his persistent efforts.

As I said, his father's advice was the deciding factor in his choice to go to America instead of maintaining a very stable and good lifestyle and study in Vietnam. And we have seen, this choice has given him the opportunity to go far on the path of education, instead of stopping after leaving the University of Architecture. The educational environment in the United States is an environment that encourages and creates conditions for all talent development. Tran Huynh has taken advantage of that advantage by following his father's advice.

And the influence of the family is also clearly shown through the image of his old mother who always follows him on every path. Certainly, most of the mental strength as well as the determination that he has to overcome the most difficult stages cannot be without the influence from that. People will easily collapse before obstacles if they find themselves alone and without a spiritual support. When we still have relatives to think of as a spiritual support, strength and determination will come on their own. That is the case with Tran Huynh. From the bowls of red bean porridge that he always remembers with the rustic and simple belief that “eating beans will help you pass the exam”, to the worried look when his son quit his job as an architect, she always comforted and supported him on every step of the way. The image of “my mother” also comes to Tran Huynh in times of failure, even a small failure like when he got a bad grade at the University of Architecture. He does not think of himself first but is only afraid that “my mother will be sad”. This shows us how important her image is to him. He also does not hesitate to say this clearly: “My mother always supports me. She believes that I can do it. Throughout my academic life, I have always been grateful to her for always believing in her son’s ability to learn.” And it is not just the mental effects. Anyone who has ever attended university in the US knows what a financial burden it is. The government will help low-income families, but that help is limited, especially when a person has finished college but decides to "delete and start again". That change is a personal decision and of course the government does not pay for that change. However, to create conditions for students, the government has support through loan programs and you can rest assured to study until completion, as long as you accept... debt. And the "huge" debts that must be paid after studying are something that few people can avoid.

But borrowing money to study does not mean meeting and covering everything. Therefore, sympathy, support and help from the family are extremely necessary. No one can really go far without this help. Tran Huynh knows that and he always thinks about his family, about his sick father, his old mother, his sister who has to work hard, and even his younger brother who has to take care of the family for him. All of these are necessary factors to make his success.

His father could not wait for his son to finish his studies. He passed away at a time that we do not see him mention in the book. Only when attending Professor Weiss's funeral, we see Tran Huynh say "remembering my father's funeral". Can this be considered a small shortcoming of the book? Because this makes a sophisticated reader feel like there is a gap. An important event like his father's death, but for some reason, it is not mentioned in the book.

Tran Huynh writes "the things that remain" at the end of the book, in the epilogue. But those are the things that remain for him, the writer. As for the reader, will there be any things that remain?

Of course, this will not be exactly the same for all readers. However, if we talk about the most general features, it can be said that this is a good book, bringing readers interesting moments of relaxation when reading, with a simple writing style mixed with a bit of humor and quite vivid descriptive details. For an amateur writer like him, achieving these requirements is also very commendable.

In addition, the entire journey to success recorded by him is a valuable experience for young people who have been and are walking on the path of education. The “tricks” that helped him succeed can also be applied in most other situations, such as self-reflection to find weaknesses and shortcomings, accepting weaknesses to ask others for help, always trying your best and not giving up before achieving your goals... Whether young people want to study to become doctors, engineers or scientists, the positive qualities he shared will be very helpful...

For readers who have deeper contemplation after reading the book, they may find some other points. Below are some of my own comments and feelings.

First of all, the “bumpy and long” path that Tran Huynh has gone through may be a path that we admire but do not want. I say this because clearly no one wants to “follow his example” by studying through a certain university and then giving up to follow the path of their dreams. The story of “going around in circles” like that is an unfortunate thing, no one wants it.

And why does it have to be “going around in circles” like that? That is a problem not only for Tran Huynh, but also for almost an entire generation of his generation. However, because there are not many people who “dare to give up” like him, we do not know. In most other cases, although they have gone “wrong”, they seem to accept to “continue” until the end of their lives, losing the opportunity to make their own lives better. This fact can also be considered a plus point for Tran Huynh's book when he shares his thoughts and bold decisions with the next generation, hoping that more people will make positive decisions like him.

I say this is a problem of an entire generation, because at the time Tran Huynh was standing on the threshold of university, many of my students in a remote rural area in Vietnam also had the same concerns as him. In the 1990s, I opened an English class in a poor rural area, mostly for free. I did two “contrary” things with my high school students. First, I taught Vietnamese in English class, even though they came to me only to learn English. I told my students: “If you are not good at your mother tongue, Vietnamese, you cannot be good at your ‘stepmother’ language, English.” And this has proven to be true in practice. When they mastered Vietnamese grammar structures, they learned English much faster and easier.

The second “paradoxical” thing is that in addition to English lessons, I organized talks about future career orientation for the students. To be exact, I did not give direct instructions but created conditions for them to express their thoughts, discuss with each other, and I only gave comments when they had wrong thoughts. In this way, the students learned more about their own abilities and dreams as well as had the opportunity to receive more information related to choosing a major.

I tell this story because in fact, at that time, the school did not officially organize such exchanges. We can see how vaguely Tran Huynh chose architecture as a career, just through the advice of a frustrated “long-haired painter” who returned to his hometown to open a coffee shop. He did not have any serious and complete information collection and research about the career he was about to follow, even though it could be the direction for a lifetime. Tens of thousands of other students in Vietnam at that time might be like him, because career orientation, although an important requirement, was not fully implemented in school. Some luckier students might have received advice and guidance from their families, parents or older siblings. But this seems to be very difficult to happen in the countryside or provinces, where higher education is still quite rare.

Today there have been many positive changes, but only in big cities. Rural students are still somewhat “hungry for information” in choosing a career. This may be something that the education sector needs to pay more attention to.

Tran Huynh himself probably did not want to choose such a "long and bumpy" path, but circumstances put him there and what is worth admiring is that instead of giving up in the face of difficulties, he chose to face and overcome them. In the Vietnamese community residing in the US, through his own efforts to study and contribute, it can be said that he has become a Vietnamese doctor worthy of making his fellow Vietnamese in the US proud when talking about him.

If Tran Huynh had received an education in the US earlier, he might not have had to go through such a "detour". Coming to the United States in 1999 with only 3 years of university education in architecture in Vietnam, he had to "erase and start over" and extend his education until 2016 when he was still a resident physician, and then it was not until 2018 that he started teaching, temporarily completing his "official" education. It is indeed a long journey that not everyone has the will and determination to overcome. According to the normal school age in Vietnam, it can be guessed that he was born around 1979 and so by the time he "became famous", he was almost 40 years old. On the journey to become a doctor in the United States, it can be said that Tran Huynh has gone through the longest road!

I have an acquaintance, Ms. Mai (Ilene Nguyen), whose son is Dr. James H. Nguyen. She told me about James's education path, born in the US, in contrast to Tran Huynh, James's path is the shortest! At the age of 12, James entered Santa Ana College and was the youngest student in the school's history. His extraordinary abilities were fully utilized in an open education when the school accepted to break with tradition to accept this tiny student. Right in the first semester, James not only studied very well but also founded the Pre-Med Club. His path to the medical field was determined from that moment. James also became a tutor for other classmates who were twice his age.

At the age of 14, James graduated with honors from Santa Ana College and was accepted to the University of California, Irvine (UCI), continuing to determine his path to the medical field. At only 16 years old, in 2000, James graduated with honors from UCI.

At the age of 19, James entered St. James graduated from St. George's University and at the age of 23 began his residency at Orlando Regional Hospital in Orlando, Florida. During this time, he did research on the topic "Multi-Slice Computer Tomography versus Stress Test on Low-Risk Chest Pain Patients" and was highly appreciated. In 2007, James submitted this research to the American Heart Association and was commented as "has enormous application potential". Two years later, at the National American College of Physicians' Internal Medicine 2009 Conference, James' research was awarded the first prize (Champion), surpassing all 420 research works from all over the world, presented at this conference. At that time, James was only 25 years old.

Readers who want to know more about James H. Nguyen, just simply go to Google Search and type in "Dr. James H. Nguyen Santa Ana College" and you will see a lot of information about him, including his photo that appears first.

As we can see, unlike Tran Huynh, James H. Nguyen had a smooth and shortest path to success, but both of these Vietnamese-American doctors are similar in one point: they were able to take advantage of the opportunities that came to them through their own efforts. Success is never a gift that comes randomly but always has to be paid for by persistent efforts. Both of these shining examples shine in different ways, but they both deserve to be the pride of the Vietnamese community in the United States.

The book may have been written spontaneously by Tran Huynh, I guess, so it is inevitable that there will be a few small "flaws" when it is printed. Moreover, most of these flaws, in my opinion, are the fault of the book editor rather than the author. As an amateur writer, Tran Huynh's ability to complete this book manuscript is already "admirable", no one can ask for more from him.

But the book editor, with his experience and professional knowledge, if he works seriously, can avoid some unnecessary mistakes. I read a few chapters that he posted on his Facebook and when I bought the book and read it again, I saw that the printed version had been edited and changed to make it more complete. It could be your own edits, but it could also be due to the efforts of the editor. However, there are still a few small points that could be more perfect if it could be polished more carefully for the next edition.

The first flaw is the use of the word “xi trét” which I cannot believe was written by Tran Huynh. In some other places, he left the word stress as is, and that is the correct usage. Although it can be roughly translated into Vietnamese as “cáng tùng”, but cân tùng cannot fully express the state of stress. This is a word that is quite popular in this era, and the pronunciation of “xi trét” is not italicized or enclosed in parentheses, creating a very funny look for the sentence. I guess nine out of ten times an editor has actively “Vietnamized” this word but did not expect it to be a way of “correcting mistakes”, meaning “correcting right into wrong”.

The second flaw is that some different ways of using words in spoken and written language have not been corrected. Once again, this responsibility belongs to the editor. I will take an example like this sentence on page 82: “Dr. Snyder still has many patients so the receptionist asked me to wait outside in the waiting room.”

“Kèo” someone to do something is a purely colloquial or spoken language usage. The listener will immediately understand that it is a request, a suggestion to do something... But in standard written language, this word is not used but must be “ bảo” or more seriously, “ đề ý”. In this case, it would be more appropriate to write “The receptionist told me to wait...”.

The third flaw is the way characters are named in the memoir genre. Professional editors need to know this and give their opinion to the author. Let's take an example of the story of Dr. Binh's "heart examination" in chapter 2. Let's read it again: "At about 8 o'clock, my father met Dr. Binh. He was middle-aged, a bit short, wearing glasses, a shiny bald head, and a white coat with open buttons that had turned the color of congee. - What's the matter? - Dr. Binh shouted. - Yes, heart disease. - My father answered softly. - How long has it been? - Yes, about a few years. - Why are you just coming here now? - By the time Dr. Binh asked that, he had finished writing the prescription. He took out the stethoscope, placed it on my father's sweat-soaked shirt for a few seconds, then gave the prescription to my father and told him to go to the next room to get the medicine. I estimated the meeting would last less than two minutes and we I waited for two hours.”

And then there was a description of this man’s wife:

First of all, we see that the author’s pen is very sharp in sketching characters as well as recounting events. Without comment, we immediately realize that this is a type of “villain” and the author also admitted right after that this meeting made him “decide not to choose the medical profession”.

However, the “flaw” that I want to talk about here is not a problem with writing style. Because the whole book is written in an autobiographical style, recounting his life story to share experiences, as the author said from the beginning, we must rule out the possibility that he made up an untrue story to put in the book. So we see here only two cases: Is Doctor Binh a real character with that name or has his name been changed?

If he is a real character with that name, it is really not advisable. Since it is a publication that will reach the public, and will pass through the hands of tens of thousands of readers or more, we can easily imagine it reaching the hands of this character himself or, more likely, the relatives of this doctor, such as their children. This would be a very bad thing for them.

This has been thought of by memoir writers, so it has almost become a practice that, although they tell the truth, they always change the names of the characters. This is to anticipate the unwanted harm that may happen to the people involved, and in fact, this is also what needs to be done to protect the privacy of others.

However, when doing so, the author needs to have a warning line at the beginning of the book, something like:“The names of the characters in this book have been changed to protect privacy, if there is any coincidence, it is beyond the author’s intention.”

Thus, either of the two cases just mentioned can be considered a “grain of sand” that needs to be picked out in the work. If the character’s name is kept the same, it is not advisable, it is better to change it to a fictional name. But if the author really thought about changing the character’s name, then there needs to be a warning line for the readers at the beginning of the book.

The fourth grain of sand has absolutely nothing to do with the author but is the responsibility of the publisher. The book is printed with an identification number (ISBN) of 978-604-77-9807-0, which is in accordance with international practice to create value for the book in the general circulation environment. ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is the factor that identifies and distinguishes a book from other books in the "forest of books" of humanity. Therefore, the international convention is that each book has a unique ISBN, without duplication, and in the academic environment, this is even more important because the same book, but if reprinted with corrections, will have a different ISBN. Therefore, researchers who use or cite published documents must always include the ISBN number to clearly identify which print they are using. This shows the importance of ISBN, just like an ID card or citizen identification card of a person.

However, when I tried to search in the international ISBN system for the identification number of this book (978-604-77-9807-0), it was completely unknown, without any information at all. According to convention, when we enter this ISBN number to search, we should see all the basic information about the book, such as the title, author, publisher, book cover, etc. and many other information. But the ISBN of this book currently shows that it is not integrated into the information system of the international ISBN organization. This will certainly reduce the value of the book when it is widely circulated.

Readers who want to check this just need to go to isbnsearch.org and type in the number string 9786047798070 and click the search button, then they will see the results as I said. And if they want to compare, readers can type in the number string 9781978333062 to search and they will immediately see the difference.

The last thing I want to add to make the work more complete is that some of the word usage is not really accurate, but unfortunately the editor did not recognize it to give suggestions for editing. For example, on page 29, the last paragraph has the sentence: “The teacher sat in the middle of the table... ... ... eyes half-closed, taking a sip of coffee.”

The verb “to whistle” describes the movement of wind, of air when there is strong friction or passing through a narrow gap. We say “the wind whistles in gusts” or “took a puff of cigarette”, but we cannot say “took a sip of coffee”, because it is a liquid. If we say, take a sip, sip a sip... it would be more appropriate. Of course, meticulous refinements of this kind are always the editor’s job, to help perfect the work before it is published.

Ending a weekend with this book is an enjoyable experience that not everyone is lucky enough to have. In fact, it is not easy to buy this book abroad these days. I tried going to Amazon and found that the book was sold on “consignment”, which means that although you buy through Amazon, you will receive the goods from another partner, with a very long waiting time. A large number of buyers do not like to buy this type of product because they are less trustworthy than those directly from Amazon. Moreover, the price of the book is quite high and with the shipping fee, it is even more expensive, while Amazon offers free shipping for Prime members as well as for orders over $25. On Tran Huynh’s Facebook page, I also read that many people searched but could not buy the book. In the end, I had to ask an acquaintance in Vietnam to get this book.

The book is written in a very simple, uncomplicated autobiographical style, but it is the author’s simple, rustic writing style that really attracts readers through very real and familiar stories. Besides, Tran Huynh has a great sense of observation of a scientist, so any scene or character he describes appears clearly and accurately, without any excess or omission. This has helped the amount of information in the book become concise and rich, bringing many benefits to readers. Moreover, although he expressed it in a simple and honest writing style, readers always feel that his sentences were written from a truly emotional soul, and that is the bridge that conveys inspiration from him to his readers.

Hopefully the book will be circulated more widely to reach many readers who have not had the opportunity to access it yet.