Home HEALTH DOCTOR PROFILES Dr. Alex Hoang, M.D.

Dr. Alex Hoang, M.D.

5.27K
0

Dr. Alex Hoang grew up in Houma, La., where he excelled in school. But he couldn’t pick a favorite subject. DrAlexHoang“I was interested in just about everything,” he says. “I wanted to push myself and see what I could do academically, and also see how I could help people.”

After completing his undergraduate studies at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Dr. Hoang came to New Orleans to do his residency in family medicine at LSU Health Sciences Center. From birth through end of life, “Family medicine really incorporates the whole family,” he says. He notes that his medical approach comes from “a really holistic mind frame — a bio-psychosocial model.”

Just as Dr. Hoang was preparing for his first day at East Jefferson General Hospital, Hurricane Katrina hit. “I actually spent my first day of practice communicating with EJGH,” he recalls. He drove his pregnant wife to safety in Houston and returned to New Orleans to relieve his new colleagues. That was the beginning of Dr. Hoang’s career at East Jefferson; as the city began to recover from Katrina, he decided to continue at the hospital’s Family Practice clinic.

Day-to-Day Practice
Dr. Hoang chose family medicine for its diverse daily challenges, and he works with two other physicians at the outpatient Family Practice clinic. “I see patients with chronic illness to acute problems,” he explains. “From managing conditions, like hypertensive diabetes, to taking care of acute problems, like orthopaedic pain or acute infections, it really runs the gamut.”
In addition to family medicine, Dr. Hoang specializes in sleep medicine, including finding ways to treat poor-quality sleep or oversleeping issues. “Every day is different,” he says. “Because we deal with such a broad spectrum, every day brings in different problems — and we just try to figure out how to take care of patients.”

Along with treating physical ailments, Dr. Hoang also works with patients’ mental approaches to illness or injury. Sometimes, this includes explaining a disease process or discussing why it’s imperative to take prescribed medication. Often, it’s as simple as spending time with a patient and listening to him or her.

To that end, Dr. Hoang focuses on devoting as much time as he can to each patient, gaining trust and forming relationships that cause patients to return again and again with their families. “Even with patients who have seen specialists already, they will come to me after they’ve seen multiple doctors,” he says. “I just spend a little time with them and follow through with them, and we figure out what’s going on with them and solve their problems. That’s the relationship that I really do treasure — that they put so much trust in me.”

PHILOSOPHY
It really just takes time … I don’t claim to know everything, but I can tell you that if you put time and care into it, [it’s] more than likely you’ll be able to take care of those patients. We’re going to be set with knowledge already — but what sets you apart and makes you a better doctor is that you invest the time, and just care for the patients. If you care, it comes across.

DOCTOR INFO
Dung (Alexander) Hoang, M.D.
East Jefferson Family Practice
3848 Veterans Memorial Blvd.
Metairie, LA 70002
Residency: LSU Health Sciences Center
Board Certifications: Family Medicine, Sleep Medicine