Bao Tran Nhan is back in her hometown.

The Seaside High School graduate returns as a resident physician with Providence.

“My family grew up very poor in Vietnam and actually emigrated from Vietnam,” she said. “I came to Seaside when I was 5. I saw a lot of poverty.”

Her parents, Ti-Ti Le and Kevin Nhan, became a success story, owning and operating A-Nails Seaside.

Even at a young age, Nhan wanted to serve the community.

“I wasn’t quite sure how to help people the best,” she said. “It wasn’t until my grandma got sick when I was in high school where I realized how much health can impact someone’s life. Her oncologist was able to treat her with such compassion and such care. He was able to kind of lead her through a really tough time.”

She received experience in medical and dental clinics and at the foundation where she worked on fundraising campaigns. “I was like, ‘Hey, this is something I might pursue,’” she said.

Nhan was also a busser at Pig ‘N Pancake, a member of the Seaside High School golf team, manager on the swim team and percussionist and pianist for the high school band. She graduated as valedictorian and was voted prom queen in her senior year.

Nhan received her bachelor’s with a major in biochemistry and a minor in biology from the University of Portland.

“I actually liked to study,” she said. “I love school. To be honest, I think it was something that I really excelled in. Whenever I studied, I loved kind of feeding my mind. My curiosity encouraged me to even study more, so it was rather easy for me.”

She attended the University of Colorado School of Medicine near Denver, where she lived and studied for four years.

It was more difficult than she thought — even for someone who likes to study. “It was quite rigorous and tough, but I’m really grateful for the education I got there,” she said. “There were just so many nice people. I’d stayed around Oregon for most of my life — nice to see what’s out there.”

After medical school, Nhan returned to Portland, where she is one of 21 physicians participating in the Providence Oregon Family Medicine Residency program.

Along with practicing in an urban environment, she participates in a program where residents spend a month in a more rural area — and she chose Seaside.

Nhan entered the medical field during the time of the pandemic. At the end of her fourth year in medical school, COVID changed the profession.

“It was definitely really scary being a brand new doctor jumping into the medical field, which is in itself, kind of terrifying,” she said. “But then adding on a pandemic where we had no idea what was going to happen put a tailspin on things.”

The scariest thing for families during COVID can be the isolation from loved ones.

“It is really painful,” she said. “The only people that they see are their care providers. Sometimes you can set up an iPad or something that you can talk to your loved ones, but they’re intubated, they can’t talk back. It’s a whole different ballgame. It breaks my heart to see when people are in the ICU, not doing well, their families calling us to see if they’re able to visit — and us having to say ‘no,’ unfortunately.”

With limited resources, doctors and hospitals face the kinds of ethical deliberations “that maybe weren’t too much in the forefront in the past.”

Much of the pandemic measures, such as increased levels of personal protective equipment for staff, are likely to remain. “I think that with the pandemic kind of slowing down a little bit, we’re relaxing a little bit some of those guidelines,” she said. “But we’re always thinking about where the trajectory of the pandemic is and adjusting as needed.”

During the second year of residency, the program sends one resident physician to Seaside to explore what medical practice is like in a rural community. Nhan alternates four weeks in Seaside and four weeks in Portland. “I wasn’t aware of this opportunity until I interviewed for the job position and found out that I would get the opportunity to be back in my hometown,” she said.

Among her patients are former classmates, their parents and children. “That’s just kind of the name of the game in the small town,” she said.

A typical day is caring for patients in the primary care clinic, the emergency room, or admitted to the hospital.

“I’m so grateful to this community for welcoming my family and I into the community with open arms and continuing to support us through all these years,” Nhan said. “Although I was born in Vietnam, Seaside will always be my home and I hope to be able to give back to this community in the future.”