Mytien Nguyen, MS, an MD/PhD student at the Yale School of Medicine, was selected by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) to attend the 2023 Clinical Congress in Boston, MA for her research efforts to support underrepresented groups in medicine. Her mentor was Paris Butler, MD, MPH, associate professor of surgery (plastic) and vice chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Nguyen earned her undergraduate and graduate degree from Cornell University. Her work centers on eliminating barriers that prevent first-generation and low-income college graduates from pursuing a career in medicine. She has published extensively on the association between socioeconomic status and medical school admission and strategies to enhance workforce diversity in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Journal of Vascular Surgery, JAMA Surgery, Annals of Surgery, and JAMA Internal Medicine. An advocate for health equity, she is also the founder of National First Gen & Low-Income in Medicine Association.
The ACS annually selects an aspiring surgeon for the Medical Student Travel Award from over a hundred applicants. Award recipients connect with potential mentors and explore a career path in academic surgery.