Honoring Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

John Fan, M.D.

John Fan, M.D., board-certified anesthesiologist

“Given my family’s heritage and background, I have always felt a strong tie to my Asian roots and a desire to reconnect however possible. In 2018, I had the chance to travel to a new hospital in Changchun, China, to teach, train, and share anesthesia techniques with Chinese physicians and anesthesia providers.”

I’m currently a partner in the U.S. Anesthesia Partners Central Florida practice and work primarily at the AdventHealth Orlando and AdventHealth Altamonte hospitals. I serve as the chief of anesthesiology at the AdventHealth Altamonte hospital and as a member of our group’s Clinical Governance Board.

I have the opportunity to practice almost all aspects of anesthesiology (general surgery, heart/lung/liver transplant, orthopedic, cardiovascular, obstetrical, and neurosurgical), but I am fellowship-trained and specialize in Adult Cardiac Anesthesiology. I completed my Anesthesiology residency in 2018 at Johns Hopkins Hospital and then completed my Adult Cardiothoracic Fellowship at Johns Hopkins in 2019.

I have been board-certified since 2019 and completed board certification in Adult Cardiac Anesthesia just recently in its inaugural year, 2023.

What would you like to share about your personal journey and experience?

Like many young children, my father was my hero growing up. In addition to being a caring, selfless, hardworking man, my dad was an incredible physician and anesthesiologist. While he never pushed me to follow his path, I could not help but be inspired and want to similarly devote my life to caring for patients.

I have been extremely fortunate with all the opportunities I’ve been given throughout my journey to becoming and practicing as an anesthesiologist, and I have always looked for ways I could give back to the field and to those in need. Given my family’s heritage and background (my father was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the US when he was about five years old), I have always felt a strong tie to my Asian roots and a desire to reconnect however possible. In 2018, I had the chance to travel to a new hospital in Changchun, China, to teach, train, and share anesthesia techniques with Chinese physicians and anesthesia providers.

Why do you value board certification?

I value board certification as it is evidence to my colleagues, employers, and patients that I am trained and competent to the highest standards of our field. It also instills a sense of personal responsibility within me to maintain that high level of competence as our field continues to evolve over time. I also feel that board certification, especially subspecialty certification, helps distinguish anesthesiologists from non-physician anesthesia providers and is a tangible way to signal our value to those outside our field.

Why did you choose to pursue anesthesiology?

In addition to the influence my father had on me as a role model, I chose to pursue a career in anesthesiology because I find it one of the most interesting, exciting and rewarding fields of medicine. As an anesthesiologist, I have to consider a patient’s whole-body physiology, their co-morbidities, medications, physical features and status, as well as the specific procedure they are having done.

Beyond these considerations, we are also required to master numerous procedures to enable us to care for patients during surgery – airway placement, venous and arterial access, nerve blocks, transesophageal echocardiography, and more. Finally, I find the opportunity to ensure a patient makes it through their procedure safely, comfortably and without anxiety infinitely fulfilling.