Leading the Vietnam Trip & Expanding Access to East Asian Medicine
This spring, Thao Tran, DC, DAc ’22 and Hailey Pham, DAc ’23 led their third Vietnam trip with NWHSU students. Dr. Tran, who graduated from the traditional medical school in Ho Chi Minh City in 2000, built the trip using her connections. Dr. Pham joined as a student the first year and now co-leads the trip.
Why a Vietnam Trip for Students?
The purpose is two-fold: to expose American students to traditional East Asian medicine in a way they don’t see in school and to provide care to communities with restricted access in Vietnam.
Learning from local practitioners adds depth to students’ understanding of East Asian medicine, and treating a high volume of patients enhances their technical skills. “The clinic I take the group to is a fourth-generation clinic. Besides traditional Vietnamese medicine they also do bone setting and Vietnamese massage, with a lot of manipulation,” explained Dr. Tran.
“I gained so much confidence on the trip, so I want to help more students learn,” shared Dr. Pham, when asked why she got involved with the trip. “In class, we learn about the theory. I need to be hands-on.”
She noted that Dr. Tran, who learned the medicine first in Vietnam, both from her father, who is a Luʼoʼng y (traditional physician), and in school, knows herbs in a deep way. Dr. Tran agreed. “Everything in the U.S. is already processed. So, you don’t really recognize what it looks like in the garden or the jungle,” she explained.
I really want the students to see how the herbs grow, what the earth looks like, and what the process is like. That’s what we learn in Vietnam. We learn from the garden to the pharmacy.”
The trip is a project of the Greg and Friends Humanity Foundation, founded by Dr. Tran (and named after her godfather), with Dr. Pham serving as CFO. Beyond the annual trip, they also support patients affected by Agent Orange through their partner organization in Bảo Lộc, Vietnam.
Highlights from the 2025 Trip
In 2024, the group—composed of NWHSU acupuncture and chiropractic students—treated over 400 rural patients across four cities. In 2025, they continued the trend. “On the first day, we treated 100 patients in just three hours,” shared Dr. Pham. “On the second day, we did another 100 treatments using all our modalities.”
In 2025, for the first time, they also treated patients affected by Agent Orange, working alongside a Western clinic that provides check-ups and cancer screenings. They partnered with the Sài Gòn Bảo Lộc Clinic, providing acupuncture, chiropractic care, and massage therapy to about 30 people, including victims of Agent Orange and their family members. “Initially, many were hesitant, unsure of what the treatment involved,” explained Dr. Pham. “Most are farmers who have been living with chronic pain. But once they experienced it, the response was incredibly positive.”
Beyond providing services, the clinic provided free wellness checks, and for those requiring further diagnostics, the Greg and Friends Humanity Foundation provided $100 per patient to help cover advanced imaging to support early detection and treatment of health conditions. Additionally, they distributed 30 care packages, containing food and cash.
Providing Care in the Local Minnesota Community
In Minnesota, Drs. Tran and Pham offer no-cost acupuncture, chiropractic care, and massage therapy at the Bo De Vietnamese Buddhist Temple in Eagan, Minnesota. Donations from these events fund the foundation, but most importantly, the monthly event expands access to care in the Twin Cities.
“When I started school, I went to the grocery store and told people I was studying acupuncture, and they didn’t know there was acupuncture access in Minnesota,” Dr. Tran shared. “I know people in my country use acupuncture a lot, but they don’t know about it here. So, I thought, we should do something.”
“We see a lot of American patients as well, who want to learn about acupuncture,” Dr. Pham added. “At first, Dr. Tran reached out to Asian people who didn’t speak English and didn’t know that acupuncture was available. But everybody comes to the clinic.”