About Dr. Phillip A. Smith, MD, FACC
Phillip A. Smith, MD, FACC, is an interventional and structural heart cardiologist with Cardiovascular Institute of the South (CIS) in Baton Rouge and Zachary, Louisiana.
Dr. Smith treats people with heart valve disease, coronary artery disease, heart failure and related conditions. His focus is catheter-based procedures that repair or replace parts of the heart without open-heart surgery, along with the imaging needed to plan them well.
His medical education began in Louisiana. He earned a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and his medical degree from the LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport, where he was named a Ronald B. George Scholar. He then spent eight years training at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB): internal medicine residency in the Tinsley Harrison program, where he received the Cobbs Award, followed by fellowships in cardiovascular disease, interventional cardiology and structural heart disease.
During training he volunteered at the PATH Clinic, a free primary care clinic for uninsured residents of Jefferson County, Alabama. In 2020 he served as a cardiology consultant and proceduralist in UAB's COVID-19 intensive care units during the pandemic surge. His research on nuclear stress imaging and on an unusual form of stress-related heart muscle weakness was published in the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology and Echocardiography.
Dr. Smith joined CIS in August 2023. Since then he has been primary operator for more than 180 structural heart procedures, including more than 85 transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVR), transcatheter mitral and tricuspid repair, left atrial appendage occlusion, PFO and ASD closure, balloon valvuloplasty, paravalvular leak closure and alcohol septal ablation. In 2025 he performed Baton Rouge General's first successful paravalvular leak closure. In 2026 he performed the hospital's first TriClip and started its transcatheter tricuspid repair program.
His work reaches beyond valves. At Baton Rouge General he implants CardioMEMS heart failure sensors and leads the practice's remote pressure-monitoring program. He also co-designed the hospital's heart attack cardiogenic shock pathway, from EMS pre-alert through temporary heart pump support and ICU care. At Lane Regional Medical Center in Zachary, he helped start the pulmonary embolism thrombectomy program and proctored the hospital's interventional cardiologists, who now perform the procedure on their own. He performs coronary angiography, angioplasty and stenting, including emergency heart attack care.
Imaging is central to structural heart care. In addition to cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology, Dr. Smith is board certified in echocardiography, nuclear cardiology and cardiac CT. He performs transesophageal, transthoracic and intracardiac echocardiography and reads nuclear stress tests and cardiac CT scans.
Dr. Smith sees patients at the CIS clinics on Picardy Avenue in Baton Rouge and on Main Street in Zachary, where he serves northern East Baton Rouge Parish and nearby rural communities, including in Mississippi. He holds active staff privileges at Baton Rouge General Medical Center – Bluebonnet, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center and Lane Regional Medical Center.
He also teaches. He has spoken at the New Cardiovascular Horizons conference in New Orleans on TAVR, valve treatments and left atrial appendage closure; presented "Structural Heart 101: Key Insights for PCPs" to the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians; and returned to UAB to speak with interventional and structural heart fellows about the first year of practice.
Dr. Smith is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a member of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions and the American College of Physicians.
Training
- 2022 – 2023 Fellowship, Structural Heart Disease — University of Alabama at Birmingham
- 2021 – 2022 Fellowship, Interventional Cardiology — University of Alabama at Birmingham
- 2018 – 2021 Fellowship, Cardiovascular Disease — University of Alabama at Birmingham
- 2015 – 2018 Internship and Residency, Internal Medicine — Tinsley Harrison Internal Medicine Residency Program, University of Alabama at Birmingham
- 2011 – 2015 Doctor of Medicine — Louisiana State University School of Medicine, Shreveport
- 2007 – 2011 Bachelor of Science, Biological Sciences — Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
Board certifications
- Interventional Cardiology — American Board of Internal Medicine, 2022
- Cardiovascular Disease — American Board of Internal Medicine, 2021
- Internal Medicine — American Board of Internal Medicine, 2018
- Echocardiography (ASCeXAM) — National Board of Echocardiography, 2020
- Nuclear Cardiology — Certification Board of Nuclear Cardiology, 2024
- Cardiovascular Computed Tomography — Certification Board of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography, 2024
Licensure
Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners, License #336202.
Hospital affiliations
- Baton Rouge General Medical Center – Bluebonnet, Baton Rouge
- Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, Baton Rouge
- Lane Regional Medical Center, Zachary
Professional societies
- American College of Cardiology (ACC) — 2015 to present
- Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) — 2020 to present
- American College of Physicians (ACP) — 2012 to present
Invited lectures
- May 2026 — New Cardiovascular Horizons Annual Conference, New Orleans: "Has TAVR Matured? Or Is There More to Come? The Next Generation of TAVR"; "Valvular Treatments: What's New"; "When to Consider LAA Exclusion: Newer Options for LAAO"
- May 2025 — New Cardiovascular Horizons Annual Conference, New Orleans: "Sealing the Source: When Is Left Atrial Appendage Exclusion the Right Choice?"
- November 2024 — Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians, Statewide Monthly Webinar Series: "Structural Heart 101: Key Insights for PCPs"
- September 2024 — Interventional Cardiology and Structural Heart Fellows Conference, University of Alabama at Birmingham: "Navigating the 1st Year: Successes and Challenges"
Peer-reviewed publications
- Smith P, Farag A, Bhambhvani P, Iskandrian A, Hage FG. Prognostic value of absent left ventricular ejection fraction reserve with regadenoson SPECT MPI. J Nucl Cardiol. 2020. PubMed 33089878
- Ives CW, Smith PA, Atchley TJ, Pogwizd SM. A novel case of reverse Takotsubo cardiomyopathy following brain biopsy. Echocardiography. 2020;37(7):1080-1083. PubMed 32594548
Abstracts and posters
- Smith PA, Farag A, Hage F. The prognostic value of an absent left ventricular ejection fraction reserve with regadenoson SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging. American Society of Nuclear Cardiology Annual Scientific Session (ASNC 2020). J Nucl Cardiol. 2020. PubMed 32886300
- Ives C, Smith PA, Pogwizd S. Reverse Takotsubo cardiomyopathy following brain biopsy. Research and Innovations in Medical Education (RIME) Week, Birmingham, Alabama, 2019.
- Prejean S, Smith PA, Hollier J, et al. Coronary angiography prior to liver transplantation: results and clinical implications. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2018;71(11):1029.
Awards and honors
- 2016 — Cobbs Award, University of Alabama at Birmingham, for top intern in medical documentation on the general medicine wards
- 2012 — Ronald B. George Scholar, LSU School of Medicine
- Golden Key International Honour Society; Sigma Alpha Pi; Alpha Lambda Delta; Alpha Epsilon Delta (Louisiana State University)
Community service
- 2020 — COVID-19 ICU, University of Alabama at Birmingham: cardiology consultant and proceduralist during the pandemic surge
- 2016 – 2018 — PATH Clinic, Birmingham, Alabama: free primary care for uninsured Jefferson County residents
See Dr. Smith in Baton Rouge or Zachary
Dr. Smith sees patients at CIS Baton Rouge, 8401 Picardy Avenue · (225) 308-0247, and CIS Zachary, 6550 Main Street, Suite 1000 · (225) 654-1559. Your primary care doctor or cardiologist can also send a referral.