- Following 971
- Followers 55.4K
- Engagement 3.26%
- Avg likes 1.8K
- Avg comments 30
About Martin H. Pham, MD
Martin H. Pham, MD (@martinphammd) is a Surgeon creator on Instagram, also filed under Healthcare. The account has 55,427 followers and 293 published posts. Recent posts average 1,791 likes and 30 comments, an engagement rate of 3.26%.
With 55.4K followers, Martin H. Pham, MD is a micro creator by the common 10,000 to 100,000 definition. Set against 971 accounts followed, the audience works out to about 57 followers per account Martin H. Pham, MD follows. Martin H. Pham, MD uses an Instagram professional account. Flinque files Martin H. Pham, MD under Surgeon, with Healthcare as a secondary category.
The Instagram bio for Martin H. Pham, MD runs to 15 words across 3 lines. Emoji sit alongside the words. The latest activity Flinque has on record for Martin H. Pham, MD dates from March 2026.
Story Highlights
Unlocking shows the title and cover image of every story highlight this creator keeps pinned to the profile.
293 Posts
All 10 recent posts Flinque holds for Martin H. Pham, MD are single images. 293 published posts give Martin H. Pham, MD a moderate archive on Instagram. Against the audience, that is roughly 189 followers for each post published. Martin H. Pham, MD also keeps 8 story highlights on the profile. All 10 carry captions, averaging 321 words each. The captions are written mainly in English. Words that recur across them include neurosurgery, residency, notes, surgery and medicine. The captions tag #neurosurgery, #residency, #surgery, #medicine and #doctor.
residency was hard, i was angry a lot
so i used the gym to discharge my anger
what i didn’t realize then was that in those hours
i was building the foundation for resilience
the lessons here are universal —
to push, and carry, and lift hard things
to build and be better
yet make errors and fail
and struggle tremendously
and keep coming back
when residency is done and the anger is gone
neurosurgery still gets harder
technically, professionally, emotionally
with complications, disappointments, and setbacks
the learning and the training doesn’t end
so strengthen yourself to keep coming back
——
- notes from Attg-8, 2025
——
#neurosurgery #surgery #residency
(bedtime, lights out)
ME: “Hey buddy, do you want to be a neurosurgeon when you grow up?”
BUDDY: “Mm maybe.”
ME: “Wait really? You used to say you didn’t want to.”
BUDDY: “Yeah okay, probably not.”
BOTH: (pause.. and then both burst out laughing)
ME: “Is it because there’s blood?”
BUDDY: “Yeah, blood cells, and bones, and muscles, and all the other stuff inside humans.”
ME: “What do you think you want to be instead?”
BUDDY: “I don’t know. What other job helps people?”
ME: “I don’t know, you tell me.”
BUDDY: “Okay I guess firefighter, police officer, ambulance,—“
ME: “—You wanna be an ambulance when you grow up???”
BOTH: (burst out laughing again)
BUDDY: “Weeooweeooweeoooo.”
ME: “Okay bud, I think it’s time for bed.”
BUDDY: “Okay.”
ME: “Goodnight.”
BUDDY: “Goodnight.”
ME: “I love you.”
BUDDY: “Love you too.”
ME: “…….”
BUDDY: “…….”
ME: “… You’re going to be an ambulance..”
BUDDY: (starts laughing again)
——
- notes from Attg-8, 2025
there are so many jobs that help people
pick one that makes a positive impact
and you’re good to go buddy
——
#neurosurgery #surgery #residency #doctor #medicine
“I still remember presenting my first abstract as an intern. I was at an annual meeting in front of *Neurosurgeons*, yes with a capital N even though I was technically in residency becoming one, and I was absolutely terrified of the six minutes I’d have to spend on stage giving my slide deck.
“So I’m sitting in the front row as the other presenter finishes. My heart is pounding out of control at hundreds of beats per minute. There’s a roaring in my ears, but I hear someone call my name and I stiffly walk up the steps to the podium. The lights are blinding but I can still make out the expectant faces in the darkened room — *Neurosurgeons*. My mind goes blank and becomes entirely empty. I don’t introduce myself, I don’t say where I’m from, I don’t even say the title of the talk. I just click forward and start reading right off the slides. My voice is shaky and my words have that horrible smacking sound because my mouth is just cotton dry. Oh my god it’s horrible. At the final slide I say thank you and walk off.
“I can laugh about this now but it was so terrifying at the time. And so I share this to remind you that even though I might look comfortable at the podium today, I promise you I wasn’t always this way. No one is. In all honesty, my heart still races getting up there but I’ve just learned how to ride that wave. And you will too.
“As med students preparing for these meetings, you might have these same worries. And in case you do, I want to be clear that everyone has a first anxious time, and then it gets easier. Like all things in life, the more you do it, the better you get. So practice with me, take every chance to present, get feedback on how to improve, and soon this will become a skillset that will help you the rest of your career.”
——
- notes from Attg-6, 2024
i was the classic nerd, painfully shy, nose in a book
but we have to step out of that shell
to change this field for the better
congrats to the med studs at CNS 2025
already way ahead of me, bright futures all around
🎙️
đź“·
——
#neurosurgery #surgery #residency #medicine #surgeon
Neurosurgery residency conditioned me long ago to live with a low background hum of anxiety. Over seven years of learning on the job, there was always something to worry about — fund of knowledge, technical skills, clinical care, ownership, workload, exhaustion, conflict, and failure. That constant hum was unavoidable, but it became the foundation for growth, improvement, and the privilege of this responsibility.
When residency ended, I was surprised to find that the anxiety didn’t fade. It shifted and redirected itself toward my patients and their care. I developed a continuous internal dialogue that thinks and worries about all of them, all the time. Are they feeling better? Are their incisions healing? Do they have concerns? Do they feel worse? Are they recovering from a complication? Or are their lives forever changed because of one?
Surgical complications then became deeply personal. When surgery is defined by my own hands and decisions, complications strike at my core identity as a surgeon and the shared goals I hold with patients to make their lives better.
So with any complication, I perseverate over every action and decision. What instruments, what setup, what hand maneuver, what material, which implant, which drill bit, which suture, which perspective. It becomes a compulsion to find an explanation to prevent and be better. The background hum grows to a roar filled with anger, distress, and grief.
It becomes intolerable. Consuming. Deafening.
Only after I’ve combed through every excruciating detail does the noise begin to recede. But it leaves behind a permanent core memory, a marker of why excellence is demanded at every turn. And then the background hum resumes, a low level of anxiety, a reminder that every patient’s life touches mine and why vigilance is always needed to avoid complications in their care.
——
- notes from Attg-7, 2025
——
#neurosurgery #surgery #residency #doctor #medicine
PREMED: “Did you always know you wanted to be a surgeon?”
ME: “Actually I thought I was going to be a pediatrician when I went to medical school. There were no doctors in my family so my pediatrician was the closest idea of what a doctor was like.”
PREMED: “What changed then?”
ME: “Well I realized in med school that there were so many other specialties too. Question for you, do you like working with your hands?”
PREMED: “Yeah I do, I chose engineering as a major because I like putting things together and figuring out how stuff works.”
ME: “Yeah me too. I like building things, problem solving, I take a lot of enjoyment in that. And so I found out that surgery was a career where you get to do just that, help people directly with your hands for a living. It was such an eye-opening moment — I mean, you’re telling me that I can be a doctor, use my hands to fix things, and make people better all at the same time? That’s my ideal job!”
PREMED: “(laughs) That is pretty awesome.”
ME: “I had never known a surgeon before so it was all new to me. But that’s also the reason I’m happy to take meetings like this. I know there are many people who similarly just never had a chance to meet a surgeon early on.”
PREMED: “I really appreciate that. I can’t say I know many neurosurgeons who actually respond to random emails from lowly college students!”
ME: “Haha not lowly, just younger. We’ve all been there, we were all premeds and med students and residents once. I try not to forget it, so that I can continue to reach back and pay it forward.”
——
- notes from Attg-3, 2020
I do appreciate all those who reached out. Things are busier now so I have a much smaller group for premed mentorship. Luckily there are endless resources much better than me to explore a surgical specialty. Don’t forget that the gate to a surgical career is still through med school so ultimately your short-term goals are to slay that application like the hero you are, with plenty of time after to get involved in neurosurgery.
You’re all so super talented. See you on the other side.
——
#neurosurgery #surgery #residency #doctor #medicine
“Some see the neurosurgery sub-l as a trial by fire — a test of endurance, knowledge, resilience. Expectations can be impossibly high as you're evaluated by how much you know, how well you're liked, how long you can go, and how seamlessly you can fit in to clinical responsibilities of this field. Your entire surgical potential might be judged on the perfection of a single one-handed square knot, your entire smarts on a single offhand clinical question. It seems ridiculous, right?
“I'll tell you though that it's not some arbitrary test of toughness. It's about proving to yourself if no one else that you can accomplish these tasks even in difficult circumstances. When you are exhausted and worn down after a long surgery or bad patient outcome or in the middle of the night when yet more patients need your attention, can you still do the right thing, even if it is the hard thing?
“One day a decade from now, you might finally have that fancy office, nice clothes, walls of diplomas. But that's not why people will trust you with their lives and livelihood. They will trust you because by successfully becoming a neurosurgeon, you will have passed the test of working your ass off year after year in the longest residency imaginable to help people over and again even in the face of personal cost and sacrifice.
“And that test? That test starts now as a sub-l. In this real world rotation, if you can do all these seemingly small things even through the stress of long hours and high expectations, you are demonstrating the resilience to eventually take on the really hard things yet to come. It’s a privilege to help people in this very special way at the very highest of standards. And you just have to show that you can handle that responsibility.
“At the end of the day, it's about showing that you're capable of trying your hardest for a month. Because ultimately, this field is about trying your hardest for the rest of your life.”
——
- notes from PGY-5, 2014
sub-I season is heating up
send an app to and let's hang out
tx for the snap
——
#neurosurgery #surgery #residency #neurosurgeon #medschoollife
BUDDY: “Papa, do you have to be a neurosurgeon?”
ME: “Well I guess I don’t have to, but it’s how I like to help people. Why do you ask buddy?”
BUDDY: “Mmmm I’m just asking.”
ME: “Hmmmm.. do you not want me to be a neurosurgeon?”
BUDDY: “Well no that’s not it, I want you to be able to help people. But.. it’s less time for you to play with me.”
ME: “I see, like the days where I’m still in surgery past your bedtime?”
BUDDY: “Yeah and we don’t get to snuggle. Or if you get a phone call and we have to stop playing and I have to be super quiet, or if you have to leave to go back to the hospital.”
ME: “Yeah, I’m kind of sad when that happens too. I like playing with you. What do you think we could do?”
BUDDY: “Well I don’t know.”
ME: “Hmm.. well I have an idea, maybe if you stop going to school then we could play more together during the day.”
BUDDY: “I can’t do that! I have to go to school!”
ME: “Really you have to go to school?”
BUDDY: “Papa yes of course I do, it’s where I go to learn.”
ME: “Oh hm. Well if you have to go to school and be away from me sometimes, and I have to be a neurosurgeon to help people and be away from you sometimes.. what should we do?”
BUDDY: “I guess.. if we both have to do things during the week, how about the weekends! We could play together more then?”
ME: “Yeah! And we could do super fun things. But even at nighttime if I come home late, maybe we can we still hang out too? Can I do my laptop work next to you while you read your chapter books?”
BUDDY: “Sure. You can pick any pillow you want I have lots.”
ME: “That’d be pretty great. Hey do you think when you’re old like a teenager you’ll remember us hanging out?”
BUDDY: “Um yeah. You know I have a really good memory right?”
ME: “(smiles) I don’t doubt it buddy.”
——
- notes from Attg-6, 2024
i know i get less time than some
and so i try to spend it intentionally
to build bonds that last a lifetime
——
#neurosurgery #surgery #residency #doctor #medicine
MED STUDENT: “Like, how do you get through all this? I mean, this is stupid busy and at least I’m going to go home soon. But you’re going to be here.. all night?”
ME: “Yup, all night and the next day.”
MED STUDENT: “You’ve been paged a million times and that to-do list is super long and that resident who called you back — and I hope I can say this — was a huge dick to you! I mean, what keeps you from just losing your mind?”
ME: “You know….. I work out, a lot.”
MED STUDENT: “Is that the secret??”
ME: “(laughs) For me it is. I mean, it’s not just a time to burn off steam or frustration. It’s almost like a practice place for mental grit. Standing back up when the world gets you down? Pushing things up that want to crush you? Knowing a task is unbearably heavy and lifting it anyway? And doing it again, and again, and again… Literally yes this is the squat, bench, and row. But figuratively, it’s pretty much the daily for an overworked junior neurosurgery resident, repeated over and over again.”
MED STUDENT: “So in order to survive getting beat up here.. you beat yourself up more on your own time, so you get stronger against getting beat up here.”
ME: “Well okay sure but that’s like the less fun way to look at it.”
MED STUDENT: “….”
ME: “….”
MED STUDENT: “….”
ME: “So….. wanna go into neurosurgery?”
MED STUDENT: “Um you know, I think I might want to pursue other things?”
ME: “(laughs) You know.. it’s not for everyone.”
——
- notes from PGY-3, 2013
it’s not for everyone
but you know, turns out i’m not everyone
——
#neurosurgery #surgery #residency #doctor #medicine
Dr. Pham is an excellent teacher. He is patient, very knowledgeable, and truly invests time in students. Really one of the best preceptors I have had in all of medical school.
Phenomenal mentor, teacher, and surgeon. Provided the most welcoming learning environment I could have ever imagined, and clearly invests himself into the overall well-being of his trainees. Would appreciate his mentorship throughout my career.
By far the greatest neurosurgery teacher I have come across through any of my sub-internships. He directly teaches in the OR, drawing pictures for clarity. His explanations are so simplified about the most complex topics, creating “ah-hah” moments. He has a larger than life personality and is an excellent technician in the OR.
Dr. Pham’s impact is often understated. He is uniformly respected by the residents and deemed one of the faculty members most in-touch and caring about resident well-being. His ORs are good clinical experiences for all stages. He is also a nidus for a large research consortium across the country, inspiring and enabling medical students from all over to engage with neurosurgery. Grateful for Dr. Pham in this department.
Dr. Pham’s OR is one of the better-kept secrets of our residency program. He consistently challenges me to push my technical and clinical capacity. His explanations are very clear - thus he is able to explain by speaking, allowing residents to answer by doing. He is patient, kind, and forgiving. Very grateful to have Dr. Pham in our faculty.
Incredible ability to simplify and teach steps to even the most complex case. Provides excellent immediate feedback on how the case went and how to improve next time.
Dr. Pham is one of the best neurosurgeon-educators I have met.
Outstanding educator dedicated to teaching
great teacher patient kind
——
- notes from Attg-6, 2024
stumbled upon these aggregate evals, embarrassed to have never realized i could see these beyond the departmental annual summary of “good job” or “you’re fired”
grateful for the opportunity to pay forward the benefits of my own training, one learner at a time
——
#neurosurgery #residency #medschool
“In elementary school we had this fundraiser where we had to try and sell gifts from a magazine. And in retrospect it was kind of terrible because they pitched it like a competition to see who could sell the most. And so I really tried — at my mom’s work, asking relatives, even going door to door — but I didn’t make very much. My mom bought a wrapping paper pack to help out but couldn’t do much more than that. And so there I was super embarrassed turning in this thin fundraising envelope feeling like a terrible failure while I watched all these other kids win prizes for literally selling hundreds of dollars worth of stuff.
“How is this related to neurosurgery? Well, I’m walking out of a grocery store the other night and I see a boy with his mom selling homemade packaged snacks for a fundraiser. And it’s cold and dark, 8pm or so and it really should be this kid’s bedtime. But there they are waiting for any stranger kind enough to stop by. I’m standing 20 feet away in sweatpants and a hoodie and my grocery bags when they briefly look at me and then look away. And I walk to my car to put away the grocery bags. And then I walk back and buy out his entire table.
“We all went into medicine to help people. But that deep idealism isn’t limited to just healthcare. The reality is that neurosurgery is a field where even after hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans, years of residency, opportunity costs, and life costs, you will likely be at some point financially stable. And so as an extension of the idealism that brought you to medical school, you can give back in other ways too.
“One day, $5 or $20 or even $100 may not be as big to you in scale. But to a kid knocking on your door selling wrapping paper, it will mean the world. I can only speak for myself, but whenever fate or chance puts me in front of a kid selling anything.. they’re leaving with a fundraising envelope that’s full.”
——
- notes from Attg-4, 2022
he’s selling me a shell
that he literally just picked up by our feet
that was sitting around piles of other shells
i bought it
——
#neurosurgery #surgery #residency #surgeon #neurosurgeon
Martin H. Pham, MD's engagement
Martin H. Pham, MD's engagement rate on Instagram is 3.26%, between 3% and 6%, or 3 to 6 likes and comments per 100 followers. On a typical post that comes to about 1 like or comment for every 31 followers. Likes outnumber comments by roughly 60 to 1, with 1,791 likes and 30 comments on an average post, so most reactions are taps rather than replies.
Engagement rate
3.26%
- Avg likes
- 1.8K
- Avg comments
- 30
- Interactions : followers
- 1 : 31
Lookalike Creators
A free account lists creators whose audiences behave like this one, ready to shortlist and compare side by side.
Age & Gender
Unlocking shows how this audience splits across age bands and gender, charted from follower data.
Audience Location
Unlocking reveals the countries and cities where the most active followers of this account are concentrated.
Primary Language
Unlocking shows the languages this audience uses most in comments, interactions and the content it consumes.
Audience Interests
Unlocking lists the topics and categories this audience follows and engages with most often across the platform.
Authenticity
Unlocking scores how genuine the audience is, flagging fake, inactive or bot followers found in engagement patterns.
Audience Quality Score
Unlocking gives one overall audience quality score combining authenticity, engagement, follower activity and audience relevance.
Brand Affinity
Unlocking names the brands this audience already follows, mentions or engages with across social platforms.
Content Strategy
Unlocking breaks down the content pillars, tone and visual style this creator uses, and which formats perform best.
Commercial Insights
Unlocking shows collaboration types, an estimated pricing tier and a brand safety risk read for sponsored campaigns.
Industry Fit
Unlocking rates how well this creator and audience align with specific industry verticals and brand categories.
Research Martin H. Pham, MD further
Flinque ranks Instagram creators in Healthcare, categories Martin H. Pham, MD is filed under, and its free tools measure the same figures for any public account.
Related rankings
Frequently asked questions
These answers about Martin H. Pham, MD are generated from the Instagram profile data Flinque holds for the account.
Who is Martin H. Pham, MD?
Martin H. Pham, MD (@martinphammd) is a Surgeon creator on Instagram, also filed under Healthcare. Martin H. Pham, MD uses an Instagram professional account. The Instagram bio for Martin H. Pham, MD runs to 15 words across 3 lines.
How many followers does Martin H. Pham, MD have?
Martin H. Pham, MD has 55,427 followers on Instagram (55.4K). Set against 971 accounts followed, the audience works out to about 57 followers per account Martin H. Pham, MD follows. 293 published posts give Martin H. Pham, MD a moderate archive on Instagram.
What is Martin H. Pham, MD's engagement rate?
Martin H. Pham, MD's engagement rate on Instagram is 3.26%, between 3% and 6%, or 3 to 6 likes and comments per 100 followers. On a typical post that comes to about 1 like or comment for every 31 followers. Likes outnumber comments by roughly 60 to 1, with 1,791 likes and 30 comments on an average post, so most reactions are taps rather than replies.
What does Martin H. Pham, MD post about on Instagram?
Flinque files Martin H. Pham, MD under Surgeon, with Healthcare as a secondary category. All 10 recent posts Flinque holds for Martin H. Pham, MD are single images. The 10 recent Instagram captions Flinque holds for Martin H. Pham, MD repeatedly use the words neurosurgery, residency, notes, surgery and medicine. Martin H. Pham, MD's captions carry hashtags such as #neurosurgery, #residency and #surgery. Martin H. Pham, MD writes those captions mainly in English. Martin H. Pham, MD keeps 8 story highlights, which open with a free Flinque account.
How do I contact Martin H. Pham, MD for a collaboration?
Martin H. Pham, MD's contact details are not published on Flinque's public profile. Brands with a free Flinque account can shortlist Martin H. Pham, MD and use Flinque's outreach tools wherever a contact route is on file.
Links
Martin H. Pham, MD's own Instagram profile is the one outbound link Flinque publishes for the account.
Public profile data sourced from Instagram. Flinque is not affiliated with Martin H. Pham, MD.