Vi Thuy Nguyen is a pediatrician who blogs at Dr. Plastic Picker.

How busy clinicians can advocate for fossil fuel divestment

Health Policy
October 17, 2023

As general pediatricians whose intention is to promote health and wellness in children and youth, we witness the direct and indirect health effects of increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The climate crisis looms as an existential threat to humans and many other species. Due to their size, metabolism, developmental stages, and behaviors, children, particularly those living in poverty and in racial/ethnic minority communities, disproportionately suffer from climate change-related health problems …

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How busy clinicians can advocate for fossil fuel divestment

It’s time to go all in on climate action

Health Policy
September 10, 2020

I can’t sleep, or maybe it’s that I got up too early. It’s 3 a.m. and a good 1 to 2 hours before I usually get up. California is literally burning. We have no rain in sight. Colorado is burning as well, although they may have snow soon. Do you remember last year when Australia was up in flames and koalas were dying? Did you wonder what the Australians were …

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It’s time to go all in on climate action

An anatomy lab partner lost: What would Chris have thought about COVID-19?

Conditions and Diseases
April 7, 2020

Chris was my anatomy partner during medical school. We had the right side of the cadaver across from Felipe and Andrew. Felipe was the son of a famous chemist and would disappear after class. He is now an internist. Andrew was handsome and dated a beautiful classmate. He stayed at one of the teaching hospitals.

Anatomy was hard. It was our introduction to medicine. When I first saw our cadaver when …

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An anatomy lab partner lost: What would Chris have thought about COVID-19?

COVID-19 social distancing is like bedrest

Conditions and Diseases
March 17, 2020

Did the picture above catch your attention? The large Pokemon bean bag belongs to my children. The other object is a plastic bag I made from plastic scraps. I know it’s weird, but I have embraced my off-kilter personality as Dr. Plastic Picker. Our children consume enormous amounts of clementines. Clementines come in orange plastic mesh bags.  I am now master …

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COVID-19 social distancing is like bedrest

How ocean plastic picking made me a better pediatrician

Physician
December 23, 2019

It has been over a month since I started this new hobby. I told my middle-school-aged daughter tonight, “I am going to write a post about how ocean plastic picking has made me a better pediatrician.”

She replied, “You mean better than other pediatricians?”

“No, I mean a better pediatrician than I was before,” I answered in all seriousness. I know where her thoughts were coming from. I have always thought that …

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How ocean plastic picking made me a better pediatrician