Integrate Health DPC

Integrate Health DPC Launches in Orange County, CA ‘27

2nd-gen, by children of Vietnamese boat people
Direct Primary Care + Therapy
Physical and Mental Health - Under one roof
Trauma-informed MD
For children of immigrants, open to all.

A little re-introduction — this time as husband and wife. 🤍We got married this weekend, surrounded by an incredible mix ...
09/22/2026

A little re-introduction — this time as husband and wife. 🤍

We got married this weekend, surrounded by an incredible mix of Vietnamese and American traditions, family, and so much love.

And somehow, my greatest accomplishment was getting the grandmas of our family onto the dance floor. 😂

For those newer here, we’re Eric and Amy — partners in life and future partners in your care.

I’m a Family Medicine physician with additional training in primary care psychiatry and a year of surgical training with procedural experience. Amy is a Physician Assistant with experience in primary care, urgent care, mental health, and substance use care.

Together, we’re building Integrate Health — bringing primary care and behavioral health together with more time, cultural understanding, and attention to the whole person.

For now, we just wanted to share a little piece of our special day with you. We’re so grateful you’re here. 🤍

Eric & Amy
Opening late 2027 in Orange County.

📸 Photo + Video: E N C O R S T U D I O
🥂 Venue: Los Coyotes Country Club
🍽️ Catering: Mon Chéri
🎧 DJ + MC: AAA Entertainment
🎂 Cake: Beverly’s Bakery
🤵 Groom’s Suit: Paul Bespoke Tailor

I think about one patient all the time.He was only in his 50s. He came to us with severe depression, passive suicidal th...
09/10/2026

I think about one patient all the time.

He was only in his 50s. He came to us with severe depression, passive suicidal thoughts, significant medical problems, and deep distrust of healthcare.

Getting through to him wasn’t easy. But eventually, he let us in. He engaged in care, built relationships with our team, and seemed to be doing better.

Then he felt “all right.” He disengaged from care.

Not long afterward, he died from a heart attack.

I can’t say depression or passive suicidal thoughts caused his death. But his story changed how I think about the word “passive.”

Hopelessness doesn’t always lead to an attempt. Sometimes it gets quieter: missed appointments, inconsistent medications, continued smoking, ignored symptoms, or simply caring less about what happens to your health.¹

Depression also doesn’t exist separately from the body. It is associated with cardiovascular disease and poorer cardiovascular outcomes through both behavioral and biological pathways—including sleep, smoking, physical activity, medication adherence, autonomic dysfunction, inflammation, and vascular changes.²⁻⁴

Sometimes disengagement means someone is doing better. Sometimes life got busy.

And sometimes the struggle simply got quieter.

On World Su***de Prevention Day, I’m reminded that su***de prevention isn’t only about recognizing an imminent crisis. It’s also about recognizing hopelessness before it gets there.

I still think about him.

If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 in the U.S.

Refs: 1. Liu RT, et al. Psychol Med. 2020. 2. Lichtman JH, et al. Circulation. 2014. 3. Levine GN, et al. Circulation. 2021. 4. AHA. Circulation.

For many Asian families, the real medication list is longer than what’s documented in the chart.Vietnamese dầu gió or kh...
09/09/2026

For many Asian families, the real medication list is longer than what’s documented in the chart.

Vietnamese dầu gió or khổ qua. Korean red ginseng. Chinese herbal formulas. Japanese Kampo. Ashwagandha. Ampalaya. Jamu.

And you may use them alongside Western medications.

That doesn’t automatically mean there’s a problem.

Culturally responsive medicine shouldn’t mean dismissing everything our parents or grandparents taught us. But “natural” doesn’t automatically mean harmless either.

The nuance matters.

🥒 Bitter melon with dinner probably isn’t going to suddenly make someone on metformin hypoglycemic. Its glucose-lowering effect appears modest/inconsistent.

🌿 Licorice root is different. Enough glycyrrhizin can raise BP and lower potassium—important with certain heart/BP conditions and medications.

🍒 Schisandra/omija can affect drug metabolism. That matters with tacrolimus, a transplant anti-rejection medication where blood levels need to be carefully controlled.

🌿 Ashwagandha can cause sedation, affect thyroid function, and rarely has been linked to liver injury.

🍵 And green tea at breakfast ≠ concentrated green-tea extract.

So instead of asking only:

“What medications do you take?”

We should also ask:

“What else do you use for your health?”

Bring the bottle. Take a picture of the ingredients. Tell us what your family calls it and why you use it.

Sometimes: “That’s reasonable.”
Sometimes: “Let’s monitor it.”
Sometimes: “For this condition, this isn’t enough.”

Evidence-based medicine and cultural humility can exist in the same exam room. We treat the whole story.

Refs: NCCIH. Asian Ginseng; Ashwagandha; Turmeric; Licorice Root; Green Tea. 2025. MSKCC. Schisandra. Accessed 2026.

Educational content only.

A year into the UC Irvine Primary Care Psychiatry program, I’m realizing just how much I’ve learned—and how much there s...
08/17/2026

A year into the UC Irvine Primary Care Psychiatry program, I’m realizing just how much I’ve learned—and how much there still is to learn.

This past year has helped me become much more comfortable with psychotropic medications, meeting patients where they are, incorporating practical elements of CBT and motivational interviewing into primary care, and much much more. Just as importantly, I’ve learned to better recognize my own limits—especially when a patient needs medications or psychiatric care that require more specialized, long-term monitoring.

Learning psychiatry in the context of primary care has changed the way I think about what a P*P can be.

But I also realized that I brought something into this program with me: a strong belief that understanding someone’s health requires understanding where they come from.

For many first- and second-generation families, mental and physical health are intertwined with immigration, culture, family expectations, sacrifice, stigma, and the pressure to keep functioning even when something isn’t okay. Those experiences don’t always fit neatly into the way conventional medicine is structured.

Bringing together what I’ve learned professionally with what I’ve experienced personally has made me even more motivated to eventually build a practice around this kind of care.

For now, I still have a program and residency to finish—and plenty more to learn. But I’m beyond excited for what we’re building toward in late 2027.

Grateful to the UC Irvine faculty, everyone I met at the conference, and the new friends I made along the way. I hope our paths cross again.

And a special thank you to the HRSA grant support that made it possible for me to travel to San Diego and be part of this experience.

Still learning. Still humbled. And increasingly certain about the kind of physician I want to become.

We come from cultures built around family and community—yet many of us still learned to struggle quietly.Don’t burden yo...
08/10/2026

We come from cultures built around family and community—yet many of us still learned to struggle quietly.

Don’t burden your family.
Don’t look weak.
Keep going.

But what gets swept under the rug doesn’t necessarily disappear.

Sometimes people don’t walk into primary care saying, “I’m struggling mentally.”

They say:

“I can’t sleep.”
“I’m exhausted.”
“My stomach hurts.”
“Something just feels off.”

That doesn’t mean physical symptoms are “all in your head.” They deserve a real medical evaluation. But sometimes the body opens the door to a deeper conversation.

That’s what I love about primary care.

Through the lens of Maslow’s hierarchy, we may have opportunities to address more than physiology—safety, connection, dignity, and eventually meaning and growth.

Not all at once. And only when someone is ready.

Sometimes healing starts with simply having enough time and trust to ask:

“What would feeling well actually look like for you?”

References:

1. Kim SB, Lee YJ. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2022;9:1276-1297.
2. Tylee A, Gandhi P. Prim Care Companion J Clin Psychiatry. 2005;7:167-176.
3. Kroenke K. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res. 2003;12:34-43.
4. Maslow AH. Psychol Rev. 1943;50:370-396.

One of the most common opioid screening tools asks more about your emotional health than your pain.That surprised me.The...
08/04/2026

One of the most common opioid screening tools asks more about your emotional health than your pain.

That surprised me.

The SOAPP-R was designed to estimate someone’s risk of problems with opioid use. But what caught my attention wasn’t the medication—it was the questions.

Many of them focus on stress, mood, relationships, and emotional well-being.

It made me wonder…

Maybe addiction isn’t just about the substance.

Maybe it’s also about what someone has been carrying long before the addiction started.

Whether it’s alcohol, ni****ne, opioids, gambling, food, shopping, or social media, these behaviors may look different—but sometimes they’re all trying to solve the same problem:

Not feeling okay.

That doesn’t mean trauma causes every addiction. It doesn’t. Addiction is complex, involving genetics, environment, mental health, and life experiences.

But it reminds us that emotional pain matters.

Sometimes addiction isn’t about chasing a high.

It’s about trying to find relief.

Maybe the better question isn’t, “What’s wrong with you?”

Maybe it’s, “What have you been carrying?”

1. Butler SF, et al. J Pain. 2008.
2. Dowell D, et al. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2022.
3. Volkow ND, Koob GF, McLellan AT. N Engl J Med. 2016.
4. Eisenberger NI. Annu Rev Psychol. 2012.
5. Felitti VJ, et al. Am J Prev Med. 1998.

Most conversations about immigration focus on what was gained.Better education.Better healthcare.More opportunity.A safe...
08/03/2026

Most conversations about immigration focus on what was gained.

Better education.
Better healthcare.
More opportunity.
A safer future.

Those gains are real, and for many families, immigrating was the right decision.

But many families also left behind something medicine is increasingly recognizing as essential to health:

Community.

Grandparents.
Neighbors.
Friends who quietly became family.

Today, many of us live farther from loved ones, know fewer of our neighbors, and spend more time connected online than in person.

Research has consistently linked chronic social isolation with poorer mental and physical health, including higher risks of depression, heart disease, cognitive decline, and earlier mortality.

Our parents sacrificed community to create opportunity.

Maybe one of our generation’s greatest challenges is learning how to rebuild community without losing the opportunities they worked so hard to create.

💬 What do you think?

Why has building community become so much harder?

• We’re busier than ever.
• Families are spread across cities and countries.
• Neighborhoods don’t create connection as naturally.
• We’ve become more independent.
• Something else?

I’d genuinely love to hear your perspective.

—

1. Holt-Lunstad J, et al. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2015;10:227-237.
2. Holt-Lunstad J. Annu Rev Public Health. 2022;43:193-213.
3. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults. 2020.

Some workouts build muscle.Others leave you emotionally exhausted. 😅Many children of immigrants grew up carrying respons...
07/31/2026

Some workouts build muscle.

Others leave you emotionally exhausted. 😅

Many children of immigrants grew up carrying responsibilities that were never meant for a child—keeping the peace, translating, people-pleasing, or feeling responsible for everyone else’s happiness.

That emotional load is real.

Chronic stress doesn’t just affect your mind. Over time, it can disrupt sleep, increase cortisol, reduce exercise recovery, and raise the risk of anxiety, depression, metabolic disease, and cardiovascular disease.

Exercise won’t erase trauma.

But moving your body, setting healthy boundaries, and having people who truly listen can all be part of healing.

Maybe it’s time to start putting some of that weight down.

1. McEwen BS. N Engl J Med. 1998.
2. American Psychological Association. Stress Effects on the Body. 2024.
3. Warburton DER, Bredin SSD. CMAJ. 2017.

Being born into a “better life” does not always mean growing up with less emotional pain.Some studies suggest that, in c...
07/29/2026

Being born into a “better life” does not always mean growing up with less emotional pain.

Some studies suggest that, in certain immigrant populations, children of immigrants may report more suicidal thoughts or su***de attempts than their immigrant parents.

Not because they are weaker.

The burdens may have changed—from survival to belonging.

Many children of immigrants carry pressure to succeed, guilt about family sacrifice, cultural conflict, emotional disconnection from their parents, and loneliness despite deeply loving their families.

Sometimes the deepest loneliness is feeling like the people closest to you do not fully understand what you are carrying.

Su***de prevention often begins before someone says, “I want to die.”

It may begin with:

“I’m exhausted.”

“I feel trapped.”

“I don’t want to be a burden.”

These conversations belong in families, communities, therapy, and primary care.

Listening early can save lives.

References:
Fortuna LR, et al. Psychiatr Serv. 2007;58(8):1052-1058.
Peña JB, et al. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2008;47(1):28-37.
CDC. Su***de Prevention. 2025.

People often ask why a family medicine doctor spends so much time talking about psychiatry, trauma, immigrant health, an...
07/23/2026

People often ask why a family medicine doctor spends so much time talking about psychiatry, trauma, immigrant health, and culture.

The answer is simple: because my patients—and my own life—showed me that health is bigger than a diagnosis.

Medical school and residency taught me how to diagnose and treat disease, but they also left me with questions. Why did stress, childhood experiences, family dynamics, and cultural expectations keep showing up in the stories of people with hypertension, diabetes, insomnia, chronic pain, anxiety, and depression?

As the son of Vietnamese refugees, those stories felt familiar.

That curiosity led me to spend years studying trauma physiology, behavioral health, adverse childhood experiences, and immigrant health. I also explored mindfulness, meditation, and contemplative spiritual traditions—not to replace evidence-based medicine, but to better understand resilience, suffering, and healing.

Dr. Gabor Maté’s work challenged me to ask deeper questions. While I don’t agree with every conclusion he draws, he encouraged me to look beyond symptoms and ask, “What experiences may have shaped this person’s health?” Those questions always brought me back to the scientific literature.

That journey eventually led me to pursue additional training in Primary Care Psychiatry through UC Irvine’s Train New Trainers Program.

I still love treating diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and preventive health.

I just believe the best primary care also asks about sleep, stress, relationships, culture, and the stories that shape our health.

That’s the kind of physician I’m striving to become.

1. Felitti VJ, et al. Am J Prev Med. 1998.
2. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Integrating Primary Care and Behavioral Health Care. 2016.
3. American Psychiatric Association Foundation. Collaborative Care Model.
4. Alegría M, et al. Psychiatr Serv. 2008.
5. Kabat-Zinn J. Clin Psychol Sci Pract. 2003.

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