Staff Spotlight: Trang Nguyen, Academic HR Manager & Executive Assistant
UW Dermatology is fortunate to have a small but passionate team of administrative staff members whose talent and dedication to our faculty, trainees and research teams help make our division such a great place to learn, work and teach. Check-out our Staff Spotlights to learn how our staff contributes to our academic, research, patient care and service missions.
Meet Trang Nguyen (she/her), Academic HR Manager and Executive Assistant to Drs. Paul Nghiem, Head of the Division of Dermatology, and William Bremner, Professor Emeritus, Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition.
When did you start working at the University of Washington?
I came to UW ten years ago in June 2012 as a Student Assistant in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery in the Department of Surgery (wow, I feel old)!
What is your work and educational background?
I graduated from UW in 2015 with a degree in Sociology. After graduating, I stayed on in Cardiothoracic Surgery as a Surgery/Patient Care Coordinator until joining the Divion of Dermatology in November 2019.
What drew you to your current role at UW?
At the time, I was interested in going to grad school for a Master’s in Healthcare Administration and wanted to switch from a patient-facing role over to an administrative one. I ended up not applying to grad school, but absolutely love my role and am so glad I switched!
Tell us about your position; what does a typical day look like?
My duties vary hour to hour depending on if I’m wearing my Academic HR hat or my Executive Assistant hat! Some common tasks are preparing faculty packets for appointments/reappointments/promotion, working on visas, staffing various committee meetings, and scheduling meetings and booking travel for Drs. Nghiem and Bremner.
What's the best aspect of your position?
The best aspect of my position has been learning about all the processes for HR and visa rules. It has been super interesting and eye-opening!
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Eating out is my favorite pastime/guilty pleasure which I am also trying to balance out with various group fitness classes. I also just got engaged in February, so my fiancé Chris and I are currently in the swing of wedding planning for next September! This has been super fun and exciting so far.
