Dr. Richard J. Cote
Dr. Richard J. Cote: Setting the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Discoverers
By Colin Walsh, MS 4
Colin Walsh and Richard J. Cote, MD’80
Dr. Richard J. Cote, a Pritzker graduate of 1980, is a Professor of Pathology and Urology and the Director of the Biomedical Nanosciences Initiative at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine. He was recently selected by the AOA Class of 2008 for induction into the University of Chicago Chapter of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. Prior to his return to campus in February, I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Cote about his path to success.
Colin Walsh (CW): Dr. Cote, would you recount some of the steps that led you to establish the career that you have today?
Richard J. Cote (RJC): I was interested in going into medicine and did research in chemistry with Professor Hal Moore at UC Irvine. This motivated me to pursue a research-oriented career. In fact, I considered temporarily not going to medical school and just pursuing a PhD, but Dr. Moore told me, “If I could do it over again, I would definitely go into medicine. It leaves you a lot of options.”
CW: What factors motivated you in your application to medical school?
RJC: I applied to medical schools that would give me an advantage for a career in research and was very much aware that the University of Chicago had produced more physician-scientists who were doing research and teaching in medical schools than any other university. As for the University of Chicago itself, it was a great medical school, a great graduate school, and a great undergraduate school, and they were “all” there in one location. That’s not usual, and that’s something I didn’t fully appreciate until I was well into my experience in Chicago.
CW: What aspects of your education at Pritzker were most influential for you?
RJC: The environment was very intellectually rich. I arrived at Pritzker in 1976, the bicentennial. Every Nobel Prize that year went to American citizens, and a number of them were at the University of Chicago: Saul Bellow in Literature, Milton Friedman in Economics. The quality of my fellow students was extraordinarily high. The professors were very good physicians who were advancing their fields of medicine. It was exciting and motivating to be with people who had made an impact about things we could understand as medical students.
Richard J. Cote, MD’80
CW: What do you enjoy the most about being an academic physician?
RJC: I enjoy interacting with students, residents, and fellows. I love working with people who are interested and fascinated by whatever they’re doing at that time. I also enjoy my practice in surgical pathology. I like the art and the craft of medical practice; it’s very different than doing research.
As at Pritzker, the interaction with my colleagues today is exciting. I’m involved with technology development and biomedical nanoscience work; I work with physicists and chemical engineers, many who have never been to a medical school. It’s extremely stimulating and keeps me motivated day-to-day. In academics, there’s always something new. While progress can often be incremental, every once in a while you see something so exciting that you can’t imagine doing anything else.
CW: In a career marked by so many successes, what achievements have been most meaningful to you?
RJC: At an individual level, the scientific achievements have been very motivating, but at the end of the day, the most meaningful achievements have been setting the foundation of further advances by training those people who will go on and make the next discoveries.
The single most important thing I’ve done is having children who will go off and make their own contributions to the world. The foundation that I lay through them will be my most enduring success.
CW: Is there any good advice you’ve received from your own mentors that has helped you?
RJC: The most consistent theme for me is this: it is not enough to simply want to do something. You have to actually do it. The best advice, that I often received, was “Quit complaining.” Regarding mentors, it’s important to identify and seek out individuals you admire, and that can serve as models, and let them know you’re seeking them out. Mentors for me have been people like my father who went to law school in his mid-forties while raising a family and working full-time, as well as doctors at the University of Chicago like Frank Fitch, George Block, Harry Schoenberg, David Skinner, and Gerald Laros. These were individuals who epitomized excellence, and a willingness to share their skills and knowledge.
CW: What does it mean to you to be a great physician?
RJC: I wouldn’t characterize myself in that way. But I am still learning and striving. I haven’t given up. I’m still trying.
