Born in Western North Carolina, Dr. Phillips was raised in a large construction family and throughout his youth and young adulthood would spend time learning the values of hard work.

Dr. Phillips would move to Knoxville as a child and learn to call TN home from an early age. Following his undergraduate degree at the University of Tennessee, Dr. Phillips set his sights on medical school. His East Tennessee roots ran deep and so did his desire to stay in the Knoxville area. He pursued a medical degree from nearby Lincoln Memorial University where he would meet his future wife and current Pediatric Gastroenterologist.

Dr. Phillips’ passion for helping others and strong work ethic drove him to excellence in his studies. While at LMU, he also completed his MBA. While in medical school, Dr. Phillips was introduced to his mentor, Dr. Jeffrey Roesch, interventional radiologist at Vista Radiology and Chief of Staff with Parkwest Medical Center, through his future father-in-law. Dr. Phillips spent several rotations with Dr. Roesch during his third and fourth years of medical school which invariably lead to him discovering his passion within the field of Interventional Radiology.

Dr. Phillips had spent time at the Cleveland Clinic with family members for their health care and had grown to know it for the top tier institution that it is widely known. These factors collectively guided him to Cleveland Clinic where he completed his residency in Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology. Dr. Phillips admits, “I really enjoy the pace of the specialty and the overriding influence of technology throughout interventional procedures.” Dr. Phillips proceeded to become chief of the interventional radiology program at the Cleveland Clinic. He also spent an abundance of time with the cardiology department earning him accreditation in Cardiac imaging in addition to his Interventional accreditation.

It was during his time at Cleveland Clinic that he also discovered a passion for Interventional Oncology. Following the completion of his residency and fellowships, Dr. Phillips returned home to Knoxville and began working under the mentorship of Dr. Roesch and the remainder of the interventional team at Vista Radiology. He shared, “I have a tremendous amount of respect for Dr. Roesch. He has been a guiding light in my training and feel incredibly lucky to have him and the other members including Dr.’s Emanuel, Wegryn and Conrad as colleagues and mentors. Overall, I was repeatedly impressed with the skills and level of care that the Vista Radiology group provides to the community.”

His passion for increased interventional radiology offerings in oncology care drives him to pursue these at Parkwest where he offers procedures such as Renal Cryoablation, Microwave Ablation, Yttrium 90 embolization and other oncologic procedures. “In addition to being a competent and well-rounded interventionalist and diagnostician, I hope to provide a higher level of care with oncologic procedures to the local community,” explained Dr. Phillips. He continued, “I am thankful for the opportunity to help others and am so thankful to be back home.”

In his spare time, he and his wife enjoy traveling as well as time with friends and family.