These days, Dr. Brandon Taylor is learning a new skill: relaxation.
That is understandable, considering he just completed a rigorous fellowship in radiology at a leading healthcare provider in Houston. Since Dr. Taylor graduated from Normandy High School in 2003, he has been studying and working in pursuit of his medical degree. Upon completing his formal schooling, he realized that life could include something else – free time.
Raised in Pagedale, Dr. Taylor is a board-certified musculoskeletal radiologist. Impressive, but he was not the student who had a life plan in place after graduating from Normandy High School. He was admittedly undecided about his next steps.
“I thought about being a teacher,” Taylor recalled. “I went to church a lot growing up, so I even thought about being a preacher.”
However, his Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test scores suggested a different route. Based on the PSAT results, a career in medicine was recommended. “I guess it was right,” he said.
Even after he left Normandy to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta, he still was not sold on the doctor track. He liked chemistry and mathematics, but did not like working in a lab. After thinking more about what he wanted for his life, at the beginning of his junior year he decided to go into medicine.
Dr. Taylor studied chemistry with a minor in mathematics at Morehouse, then returned home to attend medical school at Saint Louis University. After completing medical school, he completed his internship and residency at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From there, Taylor moved to Houston for a fellowship in musculoskeletal radiology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Care Center. As a radiologist, Dr. Taylor interprets and provides diagnosis for x-ray images his colleagues order for their patients.
He is now working in private practice in Washington, D.C.
The 32-year-old credits his accomplishments to the support of his community and family, especially his aunt, Pamela Westbrooks-Hodge, who is also a Normandy alum. Taylor counts her as one of his biggest supporters.
“She laid the groundwork, and I wanted to impress her,” Taylor recalled. “She was always smart and successful. Being around her, I didn’t want to disappoint.”
Taylor also credits his success to being exposed to others who were successful, like his aunt Pamela, who is now a senior executive with Express Scripts and vice president of the Normandy Joint Executive Governing Board. He remembers when, as a teen, he attended City of Life Church in University City. There were doctors, teachers, and other professionals in the congregation. He said they all had a positive influence on him.
If youth are not in close proximity to these kinds of role models, they need to seek these individuals out, because people will help them, Taylor said.
“Try to find someone who looks like you doing what you want to do,” Taylor explained. “Seeing someone who is doing what you want to do does something to you. What seems so far away, seems a little closer.”
He says this is especially true for students of color.
“If you’re black and you’re trying to do the right thing, a support system will come and help you make it happen,” he said.
Dr. Taylor said he still keeps in contact with many of his Viking classmates, mostly through social media. Like many Normandy alumni, he definitely has that Viking Pride.
“I love Normandy, and my class was pretty awesome,” Dr. Taylor said. “People from Normandy, we are the best wherever we go.”
