Born and raised in rural Louisiana, Brandon Lane Phillips was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect shortly after his birth. His condition, Tetralogy of Fallot, meant he would undergo several procedures throughout his childhood to monitor and repair his heart. From an early age, he developed a desire to become a pediatric cardiologist just like his childhood doctor who he greatly admired. Many patients with congenital heart defects have learning disabilities, and even though Brandon struggled with a reading disability, he found ways to compensate once he set his focus on academia, graduating valedictorian of his high school class.
He went on to receive a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Louisiana Tech University in 2000 before pursuing his medical degree at Tulane Medical School. He completed his residency in general pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and his fellowship in pediatric cardiology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He then worked as a pediatric cardiologist for 6 years with two medical practices in south Texas before returning home to Louisiana and accepting a position with Ochsner Health System in West Monroe.
A highlight of Brandon’s medical education was receiving instruction and training from Dr. Thomas Vargo, the same cardiologist who had treated him as a child and supported Brandon’s dream to become a pediatric cardiologist himself one day.
Among many of Brandon’s awards and accomplishments, he is most proud of his Young Alumnus of the Year award from Louisiana Tech University in 2006 and the Robert C. Baird Award from Tulane University School of Medicine in 2004, which recognizes a senior medical student each year who embodies Dr. Baird’s ability to overcome hardship and exemplify excellence and achievement. As a second-year medical student, Brandon had an essay about his chronic illness and the experience of having open-heart surgery between his first and second year of medical school published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Brandon considers it a great honor to have been invited back to Tulane Medical School several times to lecture to the second-year medical students about pediatric cardiology and share his journey from patient to physician with them.
In addition to his position on the Board of Trustees for Starlight Children’s Foundation, Brandon has served on the Board of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Louisiana Chapter. He is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Cardiology, and American Mensa, among several other professional memberships and societies. He has served many summers as a camp counselor at special camps for children with heart defects or other conditions, and also worked with Samaritan’s Purse on the Children’s Heart Project and even traveled to Mongolia in 2009 to help support the organization’s mission.
Brandon has authored several medical papers and contributed to the book Common Cardiac Issues in Pediatrics, before writing When I Wished Upon a Star with Jeremy Miller. He currently resides in West Monroe, Louisiana, where he attends Jackson Street Church of Christ.
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