Dr. Tom C Nguyen, MD

Open-heart surgery does not always need a cut through the middle of the chest. Some heart valve operations can be done through an opening. Dr. Tom C. Nguyen has made this approach a big part of his work.

Dr. Nguyen is a heart surgeon at Baptist Health Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute. He works in Miami. Focuses on heart valve problems, robotic surgery and complex operations for adults. He speaks English and Vietnamese.

When a smaller incision may be an option

The right surgery method depends on the heart valve problem the patients health and the hearts structure. Some people still need open-heart surgery. Others may qualify for an invasive procedure.

• Dr. Nguyen treats mitral valve disease through surgery and transcatheter methods.
• His clinical work includes invasive mitral valve repair, aortic valve surgery, TAVR, MitraClip and robotic heart procedures.

He also treats septal defects. These are openings between the hearts chambers. Dr. Nguyen does myectomy for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This operation removes part of a heart muscle that blocks blood flow. Dr. Nguyens approach to care is patient-centered. He views care as a relationship between people than a set of formulas. He aims to treat patients as he would treat members of his family.

Dr. Nguyens background

Dr. Nguyen finished his studies at Rice University. He then worked with the World Health Organization in Switzerland before going to school. He got his degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2002 and he then completed surgery training at Stanford University Medical Center. Stanford named him Intern of the Year. Gave him an award for his work in critical care.

His thoracic surgery education was at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University. He finished that program in 2012. He got experience with transcatheter aortic valve replacement at Emory University. The American Board of Thoracic Surgery certified him in thoracic and cardiac surgery in 2014.

Dr. Nguyens role at Baptist Health

Doctor Nguyen does more than see patients and perform operations. He is System Chief Executive of Baptist Health Heart & Vascular Care and Chief Medical Executive of Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute. He also directs minimally surgery and holds the Barry T. Katzen Endowed Chair. His role covers surgery, cardiology, vascular surgery and interventional radiology across Baptist Health.

Dr. Nguyen is chair and professor of the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at Florida International Universitys Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. Before moving to Miami he was chief of adult cardiothoracic surgery at the University of California San Francisco.

Research on heart valve care

Heart valve research is a part of Dr. Nguyens career. Baptist Health reports that he has contributed to 300 papers. His work includes trials of new aortic and mitral valve technologies. He has served on the boards of several cardiac surgery journals and has worked on surgical textbooks. Dr. Nguyen has roles with the American Board of Thoracic Surgery the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, CTSNet and the International Society, for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery.