THE Less Traveled
ROAD C. Douglas Phillips, MD, FACR, paved his own way from rural West Virginia to the Big Apple. Now, he’s helping aspiring doctors find their way, too.
By Katherine Pyles
T
he journey from rural West Virginia to the Ivy League at Cornell Medicine isn’t one many make. But for neuroradiologist C. Douglas Phillips, MD, FACR, the road less traveled is a familiar path. The 1984 Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine graduate grew up outside of Elkins, West Virginia, where his parents still reside today. “When I was growing up in a very small town, a lot of people would explain where they lived in reference to what was just known as ‘the overhead bridge,’” Phillips said. “I’d tell people, ‘I live out the four-lane,’ and they’d know exactly where I meant.” In the Phillips home, academic success was a priority. Neither of his parents attended college themselves, but they instilled in their children the value of higher education.
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2019
