Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy: To be successful, passion alone is not enough

Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy, Deputy Head of the Department of Head and Neck Surgery (K Hospital) has just been honored to become one of the 10 Outstanding Young Vietnamese Faces of 2023 in the field of Scientific Research and Innovation.

Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy (born in 1989, from Chau Khe, Tu Son, Bac Ninh) has many achievements and great contributions in medicine in the treatment of thyroid. The first report in Southeast Asia on the successful implementation of robotic thyroidectomy technique through the oral vestibular route in the treatment of thyroid cancer by Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy is a milestone marking the development of the surgical profession in general, as well as in the field of thyroid surgery in particular in Vietnam.

Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy, Deputy Head of Head and Neck Surgery Department (K Hospital). Photo: NVCC.

I chose medicine because I wanted to help many people.

On Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy's personal page, the reporter was a bit surprised when Dr. Duy made his phone number public. Dr. Duy said that all those who were interested and worried about their thyroid gland when calling were answered by Dr. Duy. He was busy with work, so when he couldn't answer the phone, Dr. Duy would call back later. "I feel very happy to be able to help everyone," Dr. Duy shared. However, Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy did not want to say much about himself. He said he still needed to try very hard.

Talking to Knowledge and Life about his path to the medical field and his research on thyroid cancer treatment applications, Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy shared that since childhood, he has loved helping people. Seeing that the medical field was suitable for him, he chose to become a doctor, as a "fate".

After graduating from Ly Thai To High School (Tu Son, Bac Ninh), Duy registered for the entrance exam to Hanoi Medical University. In 2013, graduating from Hanoi Medical University with a major in General Medicine with honors, Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy continued to study for a residency in Oncology. In 2016, after 9 years of studying Medicine, Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy officially worked at K Hospital.

Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy realizes that medicine is always developing and making more and more progress in diagnosing and treating diseases in general and cancer in particular. Researching and updating new diagnostic tools and treatment techniques to help improve the survival time as well as enhance the quality of life for cancer patients is extremely necessary.

“Understanding that, I personally consider the path of scientific research as a compass to have the opportunity to help more patients recover,” Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy shared.

Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy performs surgery on a cancer patient. Photo: NVCC.

Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy's research focuses on applying new techniques in the treatment of head and neck cancer, especially thyroid cancer. This is a common cancer, ranking 10th among cancers in general.

In the treatment of thyroid cancer, surgery plays the most important role and open surgery is the classic method of treatment. However, this method often leaves scars in the anterior neck area, affecting aesthetics. While the disease is common in women and tends to get younger.

This is the reason why Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy participates in many studies in the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer and especially in the application and development of new techniques in thyroid surgery, not only helping to increase survival time but also achieving high aesthetics.

Most memorable memory

With persistent efforts, Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy has made many important contributions in applied research and development of new techniques in thyroid surgery.

In 2018, after a period of research with his teachers, Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy began implementing the technique of endoscopic thyroidectomy through the oral vestibule in Vietnam. This method has many outstanding advantages compared to other thyroid surgery methods.

Dr. Duy also successfully applied this technique on children with the largest number of patients successfully operated on at a medical facility reported in medical literature. This study has opened a new step forward in the treatment of thyroid diseases in children. The results were published in the international journal Q1 with an IF index of 5.2 and reported at prestigious international conferences such as the 7th World Head and Neck Cancer Conference in Italy in June 2023, highly appreciated by experts.

Acting President Vo Thi Anh Xuan and First Secretary of the Central Executive Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Bui Quang Huy presented the symbolic cup and certificate of merit to Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy at the Ceremony to honor 10 outstanding young faces of Vietnam in 2023.

In addition, Dr. Duy has also applied this approach in lateral neck lymph node dissection to treat thyroid cancer, which has initially been recognized by international experts. This is demonstrated by being voted as one of the 10 best techniques at the 2021 International Cancer Surgery Conference of the United States - SSO and published in a prestigious international journal Q1 with IF 3.7.

In particular, Dr. Duy has successfully applied robotic surgery to cut the thyroid gland through the oral vestibule in the treatment of thyroid cancer. This result has been published in the international journal Q1 and is the first report in Southeast Asia to successfully deploy the technique of robotic thyroidectomy through the oral vestibule in the treatment of thyroid cancer. This is a milestone marking the development of the surgical profession in general, as well as in the field of thyroid surgery in particular in Vietnam.

To Dr. Duy, fulfilling his wish to help people is the happiness of the patients and their families.

“I still remember the smile of a 15-year-old patient and her mother when they successfully underwent surgery to treat thyroid cancer with endoscopic thyroidectomy through the oral vestibule at the Department of Head and Neck Surgery, K Hospital. The child's disease was at a very early stage, so the chance of recovery was very high, and especially the child was very happy that there was no scar on his neck,” Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy was moved.

Working with passion is a process of enjoyment.

Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy shared that he himself encountered many difficulties in medical research, especially in the clinical field. Research is often conducted on patients, so ensuring research ethics in medicine is very important and sometimes difficult. However, with the aim of finding new diagnostic and treatment methods, new surgical techniques to help bring the highest treatment efficiency, he always tries his best, persistently pursuing his passion to achieve the best research results.

Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy (center) received the 2023 Golden Globe Award. Photo: TD.

The motto that Dr. Duy himself feels very fond of is: "If passion is the road to success, then perseverance is the vehicle that takes you there." For Dr. Duy , passion is very important. Without passion, we will give up more easily. When working with passion, it means we are enjoying the job, not working hard. However, passion alone is not enough.

“If you have passion but are not persistent, it will be difficult to succeed. This is especially true in scientific research with its many difficulties and hardships,” Dr. Duy shared.

At the age of 35, Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy has 62 published scientific articles, of which 29 are in prestigious international journals: 13 in Q1 journals (all 13 are main authors), 3 in Q2 journals (all 3 are main authors), 4 in Q3 journals (3 are main authors), 9 in Scopus journals (5 are main authors).

Dr. Ngo Quoc Duy received the 2023 Golden Globe Science and Technology Award. Previously, he was awarded: Creative Youth Badge; Advanced Youth Badge following Uncle Ho's teachings; Excellence Award at the 21st Conference on Science and Technology for Youth in the Medical Industry; Dang Van Ngu Award for Outstanding Young Researcher in 2022 of Hanoi Medical University; Global Scholarship for Head and Neck Cancer Surgery and Cancer of the World Head and Neck Cancer Association in 2022.

Source: https://kienthuc.net.vn/kho-tri-thuc/tsbs-ngo-quoc-duy-de-thanh-cong-dam-me-thoi-chua-du-1973984.html