Lunar New Year is celebrated across East Asian cultures as the start of the new lunar calendar, with each cycle associated with one of the 12 zodiac animals. This year, the Year of the Snake, is often seen as a time for transformation, renewal, and personal growth.
In honor of the holiday, the Heersink School of Medicine spoke with Tom Chi, M.D., MBA, Chair of the Department of Urology, to share his favorite traditions and how the themes of the Year of the Snake resonate in his work and daily life.
The history and significance of Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is among the most important celebrations in many East Asian cultures. Its origins date back over 4,000 years to ancient agrarian societies, marking the end of winter and the beginning of a new growing season. Traditionally, it was a time to honor deities and ancestors, seek blessings for the coming year, and drive away bad luck.
The festival usually lasts 15 days, starting with the New Year's Eve dinner and culminating in the Lantern Festival. This year, Lunar New Year begins on Jan. 29, 2025.
The Chinese zodiac, which is central to the celebration, consists of a 12-year cycle, with each year represented by a different animal. The snake, the sixth animal in the cycle, is associated with wisdom, intelligence, and the ability to navigate life's complexities.
The Year of the Snake is often seen as a time for introspection, transformation, and renewal. It encourages individuals to shed old habits, embrace change, and strive for personal growth, much like a snake shedding its skin.
Fond memories and traditions
As a second-generation Taiwanese-American, Chi cherishes the Lunar New Year traditions he grew up with, all centered around family gatherings.
Tom Chi, M.D., MBA
“Lunar New Year was always about family,” Chi recalls. “We’d have a line-up of people in the kitchen making dumplings, wrapping them, and boiling them. The wonderful thing about the holiday is that it’s about bringing your family together. When you’re sitting around a table making and eating dumplings, there’s an opportunity to catch up on life and connect with each other.”
Chi fondly remembers the anticipation of receiving red envelopes, or hongbao, from his parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles as a kid.
The envelopes, which symbolize good luck and prosperity, are typically given by the family's elders to the younger generations to share blessings for the coming year. Red is particularly significant as it represents energy, happiness, and good fortune.
As a father, Chi has the joy of passing on these traditions to his three children.
“Our family still gets together and makes dumplings all these generations later,” he says. “Now we’re the ones passing envelopes to our children. Embracing ways to pass our traditions to our children has been a lot of fun and we hope will pass some sense of our culture and identity on to the next generation.”
Connecting the Year of the Snake to medicine
Stepping into the Year of the Snake, Chi recognizes this as a time for reflection and renewal, especially in his new role as the Chair of the Department of Urology. Chi, who joined UAB from the University of California, San Francisco, began his role on Jan. 1, 2025, coinciding with the Lunar New Year—a fitting moment for him to “shed his skin,” much like the snake, and embrace this new chapter in his professional journey.
Although Chi only recently joined UAB, he has worked with his department to develop plans to expand and re-engage their network of patients, build relationships and collaborations in and outside of UAB, and bring new team members to the UAB Urology family.
“When we talk about renewal, a part of that will be about growing and re-energizing the people already here and bringing in additional superstars to lead this team to a new chapter. That will be a big area of focus for us during the years ahead. With UAB growing in many directions, the future is exciting for UAB Urology.”
Mentorship is another crucial element of Chi’s work that excites and fulfills him, sharing the joy he feels seeing his trainees and mentees celebrate milestones he once celebrated in his own medical journey.
In his new role, he aims to expand learning opportunities to inspire next generations of urologists. This has included increasing the number of residents in the Department of Urology from three to four residents a year and bringing new fellowship programs into the Department. This goal aims to create a new generation of engaged health care professionals, not only in the department but across UAB.
“I encourage people to think to themselves, ‘What’s the thing that, if you didn’t do it this week, would make you feel like you were missing something?’ Whatever that is, that’s what drives your passion and excitement. We should be thinking about investing our time and energy in the things we love—that’s how you build a new generation of resilient and engaged health care professionals.”
Looking ahead to the future of the department, Chi shares a hope for his faculty, staff, students, and patients: “If we can create a place where people think to themselves, ‘I would love to be a part of that,’ then I think we’ve done something truly special.”
Celebrating Lunar New Year at UAB
This year, the UAB Medicine Global Resource Group is holding a Lunar New Year Commemoration for anyone interested in ringing in the Year of the Snake.
On Wednesday, Jan. 29, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., all Heersink faculty, staff, and students are invited to gather in the West Pavilion First Floor Atrium to enjoy East Asian cultural dance performances, thoughtful reflections, and an opportunity to connect with peers at UAB.
To register, click here.
From all of us at the Heersink School of Medicine, we wish you a Happy Lunar New Year!