Meet Brandon Pham | Entrepreneur & Ophthalmologist
We had the good fortune of connecting with Brandon Pham and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Brandon, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Growing up, we both loved to read. As kids, we always looked forward to bedtime stories with our parents and older siblings. As we grew older, we realized that one of the best ways to learn more about the world was by reading. When we started medical school, we often joked, “This would be so much easier if we were taught this material as kids!” Now, over twenty years later, we have become inspired to share our love for reading and learning with kids by writing our own children’s books.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Medical School for Kids is an illustrated book series that introduces children to basic concepts in different medical specialties. Growing up, we were both fascinated by children’s books. Although our parents, who spoke little English, could not read to us when we were children, they constantly brought us to the library, encouraging us to read, think, and learn. We believe that our books are among the few on the market, written by physicians, that teach children real medical concepts in ways that they can easily grasp and understand. Each title in our series covers a different medical specialty and features colorful illustrations and simple explanations designed to teach children about anatomy, physiology, and diseases of the body. Incredibly, all of our books were recognized as #1 New Release in their respective specialties on Amazon! Writing and designing illustrations for children’s books have provided us with a creative outlet to share our passion for medicine with others globally, Hearing readers’ heartfelt feedback about these books has inspired us to continue educating both children and adults during our careers in medicine.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would definitely take them to eat authentic Cuban food in Little Havana, along 8th Street (known as Calle Ocho) west of Downtown Miami, and then visit the beautiful Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. We’d take a day trip to the Everglades and take an airboat tour to see birds, alligators, and other wildlife around the Everglades National Park. We’d go to Miami Beach, rent bikes and take a ride from South Beach all the way to North Beach, and take an evening cruise in Biscayne Bay. We’d rent jet skis and cruise around the shores of Miami Beach. The list goes on… there are too many places to choose from in Miami!
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The first page of each the books in our series begin with the following dedication: “To the friends and family who have supported and loved us unconditionally, and to the mentors who have guided and taught us more than we could have imagined: thank you.” We want to especially thank our parents, both refugees from the Vietnam War, who had the courage to leave their home country and take on various low-paying jobs—as technicians, seamstresses, and chicken farmers—to support our families. Their sacrifices inspired us to take advantage of every opportunity they made possible for us in the United States.
Website: www.mdforkids.org
Instagram: www.instagram.com/md.for.kids/
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