Reyna Nguyen says her job making saucy videos is harder than being a doctor. Now the adult content creator plans to return to medicine. She wants to pursue a career as a dermatologist.
The decision may come with a significant pay cut. Even so, Reyna Nguyen says she is ready to walk away from the flexibility and income she enjoys today. Her original ambition never truly faded.
She always wanted to become a doctor. At university, she studied bioengineering with a pre-med concentration. She also previously prepared to sit the MCAT.
After deciding to pursue adult content, Reyna Nguyen put her medical ambitions on hold. She believed she had found a faster route to financial independence. Several years later, that calculation has shifted.
“I think being an [adult content] creator is harder than being a doctor,” she said. “It’s a different type of work, but I think they’re both really hard.”
Reyna Nguyen currently works between 10 and 14 hours a day. She juggles content creation, social media, business administration, and management. The day-to-day demands of running her online career never stop.
Her workload can include producing dozens of TikTok videos. She communicates constantly with assistants and management teams. She also plans content, organises shoots, and spends hours creating paid content.
“Every day is so different,” she said. “Last week, I had to fly my assistant over because we just had so much to do.”
She described a typical morning in detail. “I would wake up, get ready and then I had to make 20 TikTok videos, and they all had to be new,” she said. “Then it’s admin work, checking emails, talking to assistants and management. Then planning the content day and actually setting up for each piece of content.”
For Reyna Nguyen, the biggest difference isn’t the workload. It’s the lack of stability. “I don’t think [being a doctor] is going to be more relaxing, but I think it’ll be more stable, which is something I don’t really have right now,” she said.
The unpredictability of entrepreneurship makes long-term financial planning difficult. “We have months where we do really well and months where we don’t do really well,” she explained. “One of the most frustrating things for me is financial planning because I don’t know how much longer I can do this job for.”
That uncertainty breeds constant anxiety. “You’re stuck in this phase of being in panic constantly because you’re like, ‘Okay, I don’t know when this money is going to run out,'” she said. “‘How can I make sure I have enough to live a stable life?'”
By contrast, medicine offers the structure she now craves. Reyna Nguyen specifically wants to pursue dermatology. The field combines her interest in skin with the science and technology that first attracted her to engineering.
“I’ve always wanted to be a doctor because I really like helping people,” she said. “I wanted to specifically go into dermatology because I love skin and I love how it incorporates science and technology, which is what I was studying in college anyway.”
She has also shadowed doctors in the past. That experience confirmed medicine was something she genuinely enjoyed. “I shadowed doctors a, nd I loved it,” she said. “It was great.”
Returning to medicine would mean years of further study and residency. Even so, the intensity does not scare her. “I’m already working so much nowadays that the residency and fellowships won’t be an issue for me,” she said. “I’m already working 12-to 14-hourdays.”
Reyna Nguyen believes the structured nature of medicine could suit her better. “My life now is so chaotic,” she said. “Every day is a new day. Something else is going on.” She contrasted that with clinical practice. “As a doctor, you take the knowledge you already have and apply it every single day. It’s more routine.”
Financially, she acknowledges the decision could be difficult. She currently earns around $1 million USD (£747,800) a year. Medicine would likely mean a significant reduction depending on where she practices.
However, some US medical specialties can eventually generate comparable incomes. “If I practice in Australia, I’d definitely take a pay cut,” she said. “But if I practice in America, it could probably be about the same, honestly.”
For Reyna Nguyen, money isn’t the main motivation. She looks forward to being open with her family about her work. She also wants to feel her efforts directly change lives.
“I look forward to being able to be entirely open about what I do with my family,” she said. “It would be nice to contribute more meaningfully and change people’s lives. Do some good in the world.”
She has considered whether her past could affect her medical career. If patients or colleagues discovered her online history, it might raise questions. After speaking with doctors involved in interviewing applicants, she says she feels reassured.
“I talked to some of my doctor friends who have hosted interviews for applicants, and I was talking about what angle I should use,” she said. “They just said, ‘Ignore it. Talk about the startups, talk about how you own the business.'”
Ultimately, Reyna Nguyen may combine medicine with entrepreneurship. She doesn’t envision a traditional clinical path. “If I own my own practice, my plan wouldn’t be to work there every single day,” she said. “It would be to open up a business and then come in two or three times a week to help and manage.”
After years of building an unconventional career, she frames the shift with clarity. “I don’t think it’s going to be more relaxing,” she said. “But I think it’ll be more stable.”
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