Dominique Vinh, E.M.B.A. ’10

Early in his medical career, Dr. Dominique Vinh, E.M.B.A. ’10 learned that doctors know a lot about helping heal people, but they don’t know enough about how to manage them. In a field where many work solo, Vinh believes every doctor could benefit from the teamwork approach of business school.

“After earning my MBA, I feel like I am a better physician,” says Vinh. “ I learned how to manage patients’ behaviors better, so they can be compliant with their treatment; I learned how to manage expectations better, so families do not have unrealistic ideas about medical cures based on what they watch on TV; and I learned how to make better medical decisions.”

If there were a triple crown of Virginia education, Vinh would have it. In addition to his MBA from William and Mary, he has an undergraduate pre-med degree from the University of Virginia, and a medical degree from Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) in Norfolk, Va., where he also attended high school while his father worked as a community clinical faculty member at EVMS.

In addition to his studies, Vinh also served in the military from 1991 until 2005 as a lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserves.

“I have always wanted to be in the military for some reason,” he says. “I was grateful for having the opportunity to grow up in the United Stated.”

Vinh was happy to return to Williamsburg for his MBA, even though he was living in Chicago at the time as the inpatient medical director for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC). RIC is Northwestern University’s teaching hospital, and the country’s top rehabilitation hospital, according to U.S News and World Report rankings. He also served on the faculty of the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Although Northwestern’s Kellogg School was his other top choice, Vinh decided to return to the Old Dominion because of what he calls the “perfect package.” That package included his love of Virginia, the opportunity to possibly visit his native country, Vietnam, during the international trip, and the fact he was able to get a position as executive director of the Williamsburg Health Evaluation Center while in school.

“I looked at William and Mary and I felt at home, I felt like I belonged,” says Vinh. “The history alone is worth the price of tuition.”

In one of his MBA application essays, Vinh was asked to discuss his dream job. At that time it was to run a luxury hotel.

“This was significant because during the very last semester at William and Mary, we had to write up a business plan for our dream job,” says Vinh. “I finally decided that luxury hotels are frivolous. Instead, I created a business plan for a hospital for the disabled in Vietnam. In the back of my mind, I was hoping that someday, I might be able to do some good for my native country using my specialty.”

Currently, Vinh serves as medical director for the Valley Health Rehabilitation Program in Winchester, Va. He is board-certified in internal medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation and spinal cord injury medicine. 

One of his goals is to help primary care physicians become leaders in their field. “There is a great need for a major rebranding effort to promote the primary care physician as an instrumental force in the medical profession,” says Vinh, “and to restore pride and prestige to the very essence of being a primary care physician.”