Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings January 2014, Volume 27, Number 1 | Page 58

SABRINA DEAN PHILLIPS, MD: a conversation with the editor
Sabrina D. Phillips, MD, and William C. Roberts, MD

abrina Phillips was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on September 3, 1968, and grew up in Cleveland, Oklahoma. Both
she and her older brother were adopted by loving parents
who created a warm and enriching home. From early on,
Sabrina was curious about how things worked. She won a full
scholarship to Oklahoma State University and studied electrical
engineering. After marrying her sophomore year, she transferred
to Wichita State University where her husband, also an engineer,
was employed. She graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s
in engineering from Wichita State University in 1990. After
working for 3 years in Dallas at Texas Instruments, she enrolled
at The University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical School
in 1993 and graduated first in her class of 210 students in 1997.
Her training in internal medicine and cardiology was at Baylor
University Medical Center at Dallas (BUMC), and after completion of the cardiology fellowship in 2003, she did a year-long
fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in adult congenital heart disease.
In 2004, she returned to Dallas as a member of the cardiology
staff of BUMC. Within a year she was offered a staff position
at the Mayo Clinic in the Division of Cardiovascular Disease,
specializing in adult congenital heart disease. Since returning
to the Mayo Clinic, she has become an international leader in
the field of adult congenital heart disease. She has published
31 articles in peer-reviewed medical journals and 8 chapters in
various books focusing on congenital heart disease in adults.
Since 2002, she has given over 120 talks at various meetings
around the world. She has received two outstanding teacher or
educator awards at the Mayo Clinic. We here at BUMC are very
proud of Sabrina’s success in light of her 6 years of postgraduate
training at this institution. Sabrina and her husband, Nathan,
are the proud parents of two daughters. Sabrina is an absolute
straight shooter and a pleasure to be around.
William Clifford Roberts, MD (hereafter, Roberts): Sabrina, thanks for revisiting Baylor Dallas. We have missed your
presence greatly. Your presentation earlier today at medicine grand
rounds was wonderful. Could you talk about your upbringing and
what your childhood was like?
Sabrina Dean Phillips, MD (hereafter, Phillips): I was born
in a small town outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was raised in
Cleveland, Oklahoma. My mom was a secretary for an oil company
and my dad was a lineman for the rural electric cooperative, the local power company. I have one older brother. We had a blue-collar

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upbringing in a small community. Our upbringing was a Norman
Rockwell type, with a good solid community and a wonderful
school experience in which I got involved in many activities.
Roberts: What activities were you involved in?
Phillips: I played some basketball and softball early on. By
the time I got to high school I much preferred being a cheerleader, being on the student council, or other activities that
involved the school.
Roberts: Did you work during summertime or after school?
Phillips: Yes. During the school year my mom did not
want my brother or me to work. She thought our job was to
go to school and learn. I agree with her. I did clean houses one
summer. I worked at the rural electric cooperative one summer
filing papers. I occasionally helped the florist in town deliver
flowers during busy special days.
Roberts: How big was Cleveland, Oklahoma?
Phillips: About 2000 people. The high school was relatively big for that size of a town because there were only three
high schools in the county and we pulled in a lot of rural-area
students. There were 100 students in my high school class. My
husband grew up in a town just 10 miles away and had 32
students in his graduating class.
Roberts: What was your home life like? Did you all have
dinner together?
Phillips: Yes. That was expected. Ours was a very traditional
family environment. Mom was in charge of the household.
When I was older she worked outside of the home as a secretary,
but when I was young she was entirely a homemaker. She was a
very strong woman. My dad worked very hard during the days
but at night he was a family man.
Roberts: What did you talk about at the dinner table?
Phillips: I don’t remember much about that. We didn’t
have a television for many years, not until I was in elementary
school.