Member of the Month: Patrick Leung, MD

TAFP Foundation donor practices alongside wife

posted 4.16.15

TAFP member Patrick Leung, MD, has practiced family medicine in the booming oil town of Midland, Texas, since 1980. After moving from Hong Kong to Canada, Leung met his now wife, Nancy, while in a pre-med program at the University of Alberta. Nancy was also enrolled at the university, where she became a registered nurse.

The young couple met during Leung’s first year of medical school, married during his second year, and had their first child during the third. They moved around Canada for a few years, then relocated to Midland where Leung began practicing at Alamo Medical Clinic, where Nancy is now his office manager. They raised three children in Midland, all of whom followed in their parents’ footsteps and are now in the health care field.

The Leungs made a generous donation to the TAFP Foundation in January to fully endow the Patrick Leung, MD, Medical Student Scholarship. It will be used to award scholarships to pre-clinical students who participate in the Texas Family Medicine Preceptorship Program during the summer after their first or second year of medical school.

Did you expect all three of your children to go into medicine?
Patrick: I didn’t. I never complained about medicine and showed them what it was like. They would do house calls with me and they fell in love with it.

Nancy: The oldest one would carry daddy’s black bag and watch deliveries. In high school she knew that’s what she wanted to do. That’s why she’s an OBGYN.

What is your favorite aspect of family medicine?
Patrick: The variety and helping people.

Nancy: We have patients that span four generations. Great grandmother, grandmother, mother, and kids, they all come to us. Generation to generation. We are invited to their weddings, funerals, whatever it is. We went to one granddaughter’s wedding and a five-year-old came over and said, “doctor, I want to dance with you!” That feels so good, you know? They are very loyal and give all of their hearts to you.

Why family medicine?
Patrick: After graduating from medical school, I was already married. I had to go to work and make a living. I was pondering, should I become a psychiatrist? OB? So I stayed in family medicine because I enjoy it.

If not practicing medicine, what would you be doing?
Patrick: I would have become a technical engineer. I like chemistry and was very good at it.

Nancy: My dad was a professor in Taiwan. I always wanted to follow him and be a teacher. For some reason I got into nursing. He told me to go into nursing so that when I got married and had kids I could take care of them.

What hobbies do you enjoy?
Patrick: Traveling. We travel all over the world. Last year we went to the Holy Land.

Nancy: We ballroom dance probably once a month. We took ballroom dancing lessons a few years ago and are in a ballroom society. His favorite is tango. It’s a pretty dance. I like the cha cha.

Why donate to the TAFP Foundation?
Patrick: Giving back. I want to attract more medical students to go into family medicine, that’s the whole point. I enjoy my work in family medicine because I can help people of all ages and races.

Nancy: He enjoys his career and wants the next generation of doctors to also go into family medicine.

TAFP’s Member of the Month program highlights Texas family physicians in TAFP News Now and on the TAFP website. We feature a biography and a Q&A with a different TAFP member each month and his or her unique approach to family medicine. If you know an outstanding family physician colleague who you think should be featured as a Member of the Month or if you’d like to tell your own story, nominate yourself or your colleague by contacting TAFP by e-mail at swhite@tafp.org or by phone at (512) 329-8666. View past Members of the Month here.