OXFORD—The calling to take care of people was a natural fit for Son Lam, MD. From the example his father set in taking charge of his orphaned nieces and nephews in Vietnam, to the life-changing care his family received from a church in Corinth, the models were near and vivid.

 

"I was raised to understand that taking care of others is always important," said Lam, a kidney specialist who joined Oxford Nephrology Associates in 2009.

 

Alongside partner Morris Hamilton, MD, he is based at Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi and is associated with physician group, Nephrology & Hypertension Associates in Tupelo.

 

A graduate of the University of Mississippi and the UM Medical Center, Lam followed his older sister, a Batesville optometrist, into the healthcare field. Both were set on making the most of the opportunity their family cherished, to work hard and find success in the United States.

 

Lam's parents were Chinese immigrants who had been working as successful shop owners in Saigon, where he spent his young childhood. But within a few years of the Vietnam War's end, the family's situation had changed.

 

"They'd lost everything and knew there wasn't going to be a future for them there," Lam said.

 

The family was able to connect with an American church, Tate Street Baptist in Corinth, which sponsored their immigration to the United States and welcomed them into a new community.

 

"When we first came, we didn't speak any English, and the people in the church did everything for my parents," Lam said. "They took care of us all those years. Most of the people my parents knew at that time were elders and have since passed away, but we try to stay in touch with the church as much as we can today."

 

In addition to his own children, Lam's father brought to the United States his nieces and nephews who had been orphaned during the war. The church helped them find foster families and begin their own new lives.

 

Lam learned English as his third language, picking it up by third grade along with the accent of northeast Mississippi. He remained in Corinth through his high-school years, and attended Northeast Mississippi Community College before transferring to Ole Miss. There, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry, magna cum laude.

 

At UMMC, he completed his medical degree in 2003, followed by a combined medicine-pediatric residency and a fellowship in nephrology. He is board certified in nephrology and internal medicine, and board eligible in pediatrics.

 

During his medical-school career, Lam had the opportunity to travel for missionary work in Mexico as part of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations. Being among people whose health struggles were the result of issues like inadequate food and unclean water gave him a new perspective on his own family's story.

 

"It was a humbling experience," he said. "My parents had always told me, 'You're very lucky to have what you have,' but you don't have a real idea what that means until you see it for yourself."

 

Being a young child when his family immigrated to the United States, his own connections to China and Vietnam are little more than vague memories. But the diet his family maintained during his childhood and youth provided a contrast to that of his Mississippi peers — one whose benefits were apparent by the time he began studying the body's function.

 

"We never ate out, and our meals at home were typically stir-fried vegetables," he said. "As soon as I hit college, I began eating fast food and gaining weight like everyone else. I didn't really realize until I went into the medical field the full effects of the calories and salt content in the fast food I ate."

 

That's why educating Mississippi kids and families toward healthier lifestyles remains an area of interest for Lam, stemming from his training in pediatrics. It's a counterpoint to the work he does in his current practice, which is generally focused on adults who suffer from kidney disease and are often preparing to begin dialysis.

 

"Especially with the epidemic that occurs here in Mississippi and around the South, all physicians are seeking to educate patients about what they can do to become healthy before they get to that point," he said. "In pediatrics, you have the opportunity to educate the family, to in turn educate the kids. And if we could teach kids at an early age how to live a healthy lifestyle, we wouldn't be in as much trouble as we are now."

 

Off hours, Lam enjoys taking part in the hobbies of his adopted home state, such as hunting, fishing and four-wheeling. As he settles into his practice and into his new environment, he has joined the local Rotary Club in Oxford and is beginning to seek out opportunities for community service.