Royal Visit Highlights Global Innovation in Heart and Vascular Care at Baptist Health

Dr. Nguyen is an internationally recognized minimally invasive heart surgeon and believes that small incisions make a big difference. He is the System chief executive of Baptist Health Heart & Vascular Care and chief medical executive of Baptist Health Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute, as well as director of minimally invasive surgery and the Barry T. Katzen Endowed Chair at Baptist Health Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute and chair and professor of the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. In his role as Chief Medical Executive, he leads cardiac surgery, cardiology, vascular surgery, and interventional radiology for the 12-hospital health network.

His outcomes score in the top 98.7% in the national Society of Thoracic Surgeons’ (STS) database. Dr. Nguyen recently came from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), where he was the chief of cardiothoracic surgery and Charles Schwab Distinguished Professor. During his tenure at UCSF, Dr. Nguyen helped transform cardiothoracic surgery, while establishing benchmark figures in quality, outcomes and research.

Dr. Nguyen graduated from Rice University and then worked in Switzerland at the World Health Organization. Although he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, he decided to pursue medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He says that there’s much poetry and music written about the heart, but that when he witnessed the panache of a heartbeat, he was hooked; therefore, he has dedicated the past 30 years to becoming the best heart doctor he can be. Dr. Nguyen completed his surgery training at Stanford, where he received the Outstanding ICU award and the Intern of the Year Award. He then completed a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at Columbia University as well as a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) fellowship at Emory. During this time, he was the President of the Thoracic Surgery Resident’s Association (TSRA).

Thanks to his passion for teaching and mentorship, Dr. Nguyen received the Benjy Brooks Outstanding Clinical Faculty Award, as well as teaching awards from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation and the American College of Surgeons. He has volunteered as a surgeon across the globe and lived in Africa (Asmara, Eritrea) to share experiences with others.

Dr. Nguyen is active in research at a regional, national, and international level. He has published nearly 300 peer-reviewed articles, serves on the editorial boards of four academic journals and is the editor of several textbooks. Before turning 40, he received the Houston Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Award. Dr. Nguyen leads research trials on treatments for valve disease. He has been principal investigator on landmark trials exploring transcatheter technologies. He recently served as president of the 21st Century Cardiothoracic Surgery Society and is a director of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS). He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), the Thoracic Surgery Foundation (TSF), CTSNet, and the International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery (ISMICS).

As an immigrant growing up in America, Dr. Nguyen learned more than English by watching Saturday morning cartoons. He learned about dreams, mentorship, and serendipity. He appreciates that healthcare revolves not around models and formulas, but around people. He also appreciates that his success is not his own, but reflections from countless mentors and fortuitous events. Recognizing his good fortune, he vows to pay it forward. He strives every day to deserve the privilege of practicing medicine and is committed to treating patients like family.

Dr. Nguyen is married to Dr. Gina Landinez, an interventional radiologist, and is the proud dad of two beautiful daughters.