Donuts, Pharmacy School & the Cambodian American Community

Andrew Hean is a current PharmD Candidate at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) with interests in innovative pharmacy practice models and optimizing teaching in the classroom.

For most of his young adult life, Andrew worked at his family doughnut shop alongside his parents and siblings where he created a community among their customers and patrons. They felt like one big, extended family.

As the son of two Cambodian American refugees, Andrew took the privilege of those interactions to serve with him because his parents, aunts, and uncles came from a world where that feeling of community and family was almost stripped away forever during the Cambodian genocide. From this shared trauma, Andrew found the power of fighting for my community and its unique individuals, stories, and histories—and in the world of pharmacy learned how each person’s story is so important to delivering the best care possible.

Andrew hopes to take these personal philosophies of community, interdisciplinary perspectives, and representation that he grew up with into his future pharmacy career, so he can provide whole-patient treatment to the people he will have the honor to care for.

Read the full interview transcript here

Keywords: COVID-19, pandemic, Asian American, pharmacy school, healthcare, student, education, small business, representation, Cambodian American, war, genocide, misinformation, Stop Asian Hate movement

Index

00:00:00          Introductions, growing up in Long Beach, California

00:03:01          Being the child of Cambodian refugees, bringing cultural competency into career, becoming interested in pharmacy

00:08:05          Working in his family donut shop

00:12:49          Extracurriculars, Cambodian American community, family’s reaction to his decision to go into pharmacy

00:18:24          Choosing UCSF for pharmacy school

00:22:24          Identity as Cambodian American, lack of Cambodian representation in media

00:32:39          Moving past narrative of war and genocide within Cambodian American community, Cambodian history

00:39:06          Lifestyle change at the start of COVID-19 pandemic, family’s reaction

00:43:29          Spread of misinformation throughout pandemic

00:46:35          Father being assimilated, anti-communist attitude within Cambodian American community

00:51:24          Rise in anti-Asian sentiment, Stop Asian Hate movement

00:54:15          Lessons learned from the pandemic, slowing down and appreciating what you have, future goals, hoping to see more Asian American representation