PHS Alumni, Where are they now? Brandon Eggleston

“You’re never really done with your education,” said Dr. Brandon Eggleston. “That’s really a good thing and it’s something more and more people are realizing.”

Eggleston – a 1996 graduate of PHS – learned first hand the value of constant learning. Starting his college career at Taylor University, he moved to IUPUI for his Masters and then to Indiana University Bloomington for his PhD. He is now Assistant Professor of Health Services/Administration at the University of Southern Indiana.

“I started out wanting to be a doctor. I saw all the good they do and how they help people,” he said. “As I continued with my education it became clear to me that not everybody who wants to be a doctor can be a doctor. I started to look at the other career options available to me. I really like the public health focus that’s preventative. Doctors for the most part deal with illness and treatment. We deal in prevention.”

Eggleston knows hard work led to his success.

“I think having to work hard for something definitely makes you appreciate it more,” he said. “I loved athletics when I was at Plymouth but I felt like I was definitely more of an academics guy than athletics. Athletics meant a lot to me because I had to work so hard to compete with the other guys.

“It was the same thing when I got to school – especially in the doctoral program. These people are the best and the brightest and when you get your opportunity you have to be ready.”

Eggleston did just that and his hard work has led to some exciting opportunities for him.

“I’ve had the great chance to travel the world, do some teaching and set up programs for all ages of people,” he said. “I can’t believe sometimes that I get paid to do something that I really wanted to do. I love what I do and I really love coming to work everyday.”

Eggleston’s field is also one of the fastest growing. The recent debate over health care and it’s skyrocketing costs has placed a great emphasis on his work.

“Regardless of what we do (about health care), it isn’t about who’s going to pay for it. We simply have to be healthier,” he said. “We need more balanced diets and moderation. In a way its a good problem because we have a society of ‘Milk and Honey’ – we can have anything we want whenever we want. Cookies and hamburgers were ‘treats’ in the ’50’s. Now they’re an everyday thing. We don’t have to worry so much anymore about infectious disease but we need to spend more time making good decisions on diet and exercise and relieving stress. Learning those things can be very empowering to individuals.”

There was another lesson that Eggleston has learned along the way that he feels is important to those just starting out.

“I think patience is probably the hardest thing to learn,” he said. “We live in a world of instant technology and its difficult to learn to be patient.”

Eggleston’s website is located at http://health.usi.edu/faculty/faculty_vita/Eggleston%20Homepage.pdf and he also has a blog from his time of teaching in Germany at http://www.usigermany2010.blogspot.com/

Provided by the Plymouth Alumni Association