UBC Reports | Vol. 47 | No. 09 | May 10, 2001

Voyage teaches community pharmacist to seize the day

After finding his way to a new life, graduate now helps others find their way to better health

Lap Nguyen's educational journey was launched in 1988 as he lay huddled in an open boat with 30 others escaping from Vietnam to Malaysia.

Nguyen, who will receive his Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy this month, was 13 years old when he and his uncle left Vietnam as boat people. After spending a year in a Malaysian refugee camp, he arrived in Ottawa faced with learning a new language and a new way of life.

After fast tracking through ESL classes, Nguyen was awarded for his above-90 per cent average in his final year of high school. A trip to B.C. to visit his sister convinced him to enrol at UBC.

Originally aspiring to be an architect, Nguyen opted for Pharmaceutical Sciences because he could combine creativity and science.

"I like community pharmacy and patient counselling," he says. "There is an instant reward in helping people understand more about their health."

Nguyen and other Vietnamese-speaking pharmacy students recently volunteered to translate health-care information for patients in the community in an original directed studies project called "Seeking Health."

The group worked with local pharmacies and doctors and surveyed Vietnamese-speaking patients to identify their health information needs and create translated pamphlets.

The project will be presented at this year's American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy conference.

"It has been a challenge to find the time to work in the community while I am going to school," says Nguyen who is also interested in skiing, photography and ancient history.

Despite the challenges, his motivation to succeed has not changed since that boat trip more than a decade ago.

"I spent three days on the open sea praying to get to land," he says. "That experience has stayed with me and guided me.

"I came here for an education and to fulfil a passion to explore the world and its opportunities. My goal is always to gain as much as I can from my experiences -- to seize the day."

Nguyen plans to work as a community pharmacist in the Lower Mainland after graduation.