Ellen Tran, DO

I grew up in the busy city of Saigon, where I was surrounded by motorbikes, delicious food – street and homemade – and small, hidden neighborhoods with a vibe not unlike the small provincial town in Beauty and the Beast. I attended UCLA, where I studied psychobiology, with minors in Early Childhood Education and Asian American Studies. After college, I completed a year of AmeriCorps service at Roxhill Elementary in SW Seattle, alongside a team of superhumans who challenged me to work hard, dream bravely, and advocate for others. I was welcomed into a beloved community, who continued to nurture and help me find my home in the PNW. Attending medical school in Arizona, I had the fortune to work on the Navajo reservation, which truly opened my eyes to community-based primary care and rural medicine. I became especially interested in health inequity, geriatric care, women’s health, and obstetrics. The comprehensive, community-based training with emphasis on obstetrics drew me to Valley Family Medicine, as I hope to continue on to full-spectrum practice in the future.

I enjoy browsing bookstores, visiting national parks, and learning new things about different cultures.  If I were a television program, I would be sponsored by coffee, vegetables, and gourmet ramen noodles. What brings me joy currently is thinking about planting tomatoes, digging for clams, and getting to care for my new patients.