Dr. Mai Thy Truong is a surgeon at Stanford Children’s Hospital. She’ll share the story of her journey to become a surgeon, what it’s like being a woman in a male-dominated profession, as well as her philosophy for providing the best care to her young patients. Mai Thy believes that building strong connections with her patients and respecting their culture is key.

Here’s one of Dr. Truong’s favorite memories, in her own words: One of my most memorable moments was when I cared for a child who needed a tracheostomy to breathe. He was scared of doctors, and at first would cry every time he saw me. At one of his last checkups, he saw me from down the hall and did a running leap to hug me with a big smile on his face. It makes me proud any time a child has a good medical experience.

Mai Thy Truong MD (Pronounced “My Tea”) is a Clinical Associate Professor in the department of Pediatric Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at Stanford Hospital. She was born in Santa Cruz, California, from parents who immigrated from Vietnam. Dr. Truong received her BS in Neuroscience from UCLA with honors and attended Medical School at UC Irvine. She completed her residency in Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at Stanford University, and went on to do her fellowship in Pediatric Otolaryngology at Stanford Children’s hospital. Dr. Truong also had the opportunity to do a post-graduate training in Microtia Reconstruction with Dr Françoise Firmin in Paris, France. She leads the Stanford Microtia and Atresia Reconstruction program to care for all of the hearing and reconstructive needs of patients with Microtia and Canal Atresia. She is also part of the Vascular Anomalies clinic at Stanford, a multidisciplinary team treating complex Vascular Anomalies of the head and neck. Dr. Truong enjoys karaoke, musicals, learning Spanish, and travelling with her family.