William Phillips, M.D., was born in Buffalo, New York and grew up in the Midwest. His undergraduate degree was from the University of Notre Dame. He received his medical degree and completed his orthopedic surgery residency at the University of Chicago, followed by a fellowship in spinal deformity surgery at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago. After serving briefly on the faculty at University of Chicago, he began his career in pediatric orthopedics at Mott Children's Hospital at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He moved to Texas in 1988 and has been on the faculty at UTMB and Baylor College of Medicine.
Dr. Phillips now serves as a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Shriners Children's Texas. He has a long history with Shriners Children's. While an orthopedic surgery resident in Chicago, he spent six months at the Chicago location under Dr. Edward Millar. Shortly after coming to Houston in 1988, he joined the volunteer staff at Shriners Children's Houston where he served for 27 years.
He is active in committee work for multiple national orthopaedic societies including the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America and the Scoliosis Research Society. He has been an instructor at Practical Pediatric courses for the American Academy of Pediatrics for over twenty years. He is a peer reviewer for several journals.
As a teacher, he reminds learners to treat the child, not the x-ray. He is still learning himself and regards his patients' families as partners in caring for their children.
Dr. Phillips has been married to his medical school classmate Dr. Linda Phillips for 45 years. She is a plastic surgeon who continues to be a leader in her field. She was the first woman chair of the American Board of Plastic Surgery and currently serves on the Board of Regents of the American College of Surgeons. They have four children and two grandchildren.
Dr. Phillips ran track through college and is now an avid road cyclist, despite a few crashes. He enjoys reading both fiction and non-fiction, and still prefers a real book over a Kindle.
