Alumni - Northern Kentucky University

  • Name: Brooke Phillips
  • Undergraduate institution: Northern Kentucky University
  • Position: Internal Medicine Physician
  • Company name: Univeristy of Kentucky Hospital
  • Industry sector: Medical Field

Brooke currently works at the University of Kentucky Hospital as an internal medicine physician. She has been at UK for the last seven years, completing both medical school and residency. Her current position involves caring for hospitalized patients, teaching medical students, and assisting with administrative duties for the residency program.

At the beginning of her college training, she wanted to pursue a career as a chemical engineer or mathematics teacher. After volunteering at several hospitals, Brooke realized that the medical field was where she belonged. To apply to medical school, you are required to complete certain courses but can choose any major. Since Brooke loved mathematics classes, she kept her major as mathematics while completing other required courses such as organic chemistry, biology, and physics.

Brooke graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Northern Kentucky University in 2000, and then attended the University of Kentucky medical school where she graduated in 2004. After medical school, Brooke stayed at UK and completed a residency in internal medicine. Brooke’s future plans include working at the Cleveland Clinic as a hematology/oncology fellow.

Many ask how a mathematics degree has helped with her job as a physician. As a physician, she must constantly keep up with advances in research. Reading research papers requires use of probability and statistics to interpret data. During her fellowship in hematology/oncology, she will be required to design a research project which will again use the skills learned in statistics. Also mathematics teaches a way of thinking to solve problems, a skill Brooke uses every day when diagnosing patients.

A degree in mathematics allows for many different job opportunities including some you may not have considered. For Brooke, a mathematics degree not only gave her an edge when applying for medical school, but it has given her an advantage in problem solving, research, interpretation of data, medicine dosage, and much more. Brooke’s undergrad mathematics degree will continue to set her apart when applying for jobs.