Student Profile: Bradley Lam, Cohort 6, Class of 2027, School of Pharmacy
By Bradley Lam
[This profile is Bradley’s essay submitted to the Vietnamese Pharmacy Association which earned him a scholarship. Ed.]
I was born and raised in Vietnam in Long An, a suburban province just south of Ho Chi Minh city. I moved to the United States in 2014 when I was just 19 years old, seeing the beginning of a new journey for me in a foreign land. I studied English excessively to be able to adapt to the new environment, and I went to College of the Canyons (COC) to begin my academic journey to pursue the American Dream. People say, “Culture shock doesn’t get you until you are surrounded by it.” I was immediately shocked by the fast information given in a language I wasn’t familiar with in my first class, Biology. Before COC, I was only surrounded by either Vietnamese or people who were just like me, fresh and new to the U.S. I ended up getting a C in biology despite my best efforts, but I got A’s in the other classes. Nevertheless, that culture shock was a major motivation for me to further perfect my English. By the end of the wonderful years at COC, I ended up getting accepted by my dream school, University of California, Los Angeles. I know how much my education and success means to my parents, those who had better life in Vietnam, but sacrificed their lives for me and my brother to have better lives. After graduating from UCLA, I took a couple of years off before starting my journey at AUHS.
Close-up of man using laptop at bar
As a young man who was born in Vietnam, I have a deep connection and understanding toward Vietnamese beliefs in health, as well as their practices and personal care. The Vietnamese cares deeply for their children and does whatever it takes to ensure their future is bright and successful. However, by doing so, many Vietnamese parents tend to ignore their own health by either exposing themselves toward harmful chemicals, over overworking themselves with multiple jobs. I had the amazing opportunity to be involved in Vietnamese Student Union (VSU) during the time I was studying at UCLA and had such an amazing time learning more about my own culture and spreading awareness of the positives of our culture to others. Within my first year of involvement in 2018, we worked very hard to create a beautiful event called Vietnamese Culture Night to promote our beautiful culture, the theme for that year was “Time in Tides”, featuring the dangers of Vietnamese mothers and aunties who are constantly exposed to the harmful chemicals of nail polish and other nail products. We had a skit where the mother got diagnosed with cancer while the family was already falling apart with constant arguments. In the end, the family made up and focused on spending quality time together. However, it raised a question, “Is it too late?” Some will say yes, others will say no. It makes me think of the times we could have spent with our mothers before it gets too late. Many Vietnamese older or traditional generation parents don’t seem to visit their doctor or take their medicines unless they are severely sick. After seeing the skit and having many aunties within my family who are nail salon workers, I wanted to spread the dangers of working in the nail salon, promote spending quality time with family and visiting the doctors every year before it’s too late.
A pharmacologic topic that piques my interest within Vietnamese households is the excessive use of herbal and sometimes “wind-spreading” medicine. Herbal medicines are proven to be effective within their pharmacologic range of therapeutic, however, it is common practice within Vietnamese families to trust in those medicine which have absolutely no evidence of therapeutic effectiveness to treat terminal diseases like cancer. This outdated herbal belief, or practice is declining due to more and more people getting higher education, but that practice is incredibly dangerous not only to themselves, but towards the Vietnamese community where it could hurt them on top of their illness. A lot of those “wind-spreading” medicines are just plants, and some of them are even toxic.
It is of utmost importance for not only pharmacists, but healthcare workers in general, especially Vietnamese pharmacists and health care providers, to help educate the community to stay away from those herbal medicines or supplements that have not been proven to be effective. Pharmacists can also promote the Vietnamese community to go see their doctors annually to prevent or receive early treatment and care for any potential threats. Cases of cancer, for example, have risen in Vietnam, and even in the U.S due to carelessness in either working environments or food ingestion. As a Vietnamese, there is nothing that makes me happier than seeing our community thrive in health and prosperity. We as pharmacists can help by promoting those positive elements, such as taking their medicine on time, seeing a doctor annually, and avoiding negative influences of unknown or unstudied medicines. If we successfully do so, we can build a strong and healthy community.