Hooked on Rheum with Stanley Cohen, MD
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When I was in medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1972, it was really the beginning of immunology as a field of study. When I was studying immunology as a first-year medical student, I had two professors that were really giants in the field: Dr. Max Cooper and Dr. Claude Bennett. The immunology group at UAB made significant discoveries such as determining the source of origin of B cells, and we as students were fortunate to be exposed to them in the classroom.
As I moved to clinical training in medical school, I had a 3-month period where I could do an elective, and I chose rheumatology. To be honest, I can’t tell you why I picked it, but I did.
For many people, there is someone their life who emerges as a mentor, who takes you under their wing and influences you. For me, that person was Dr. Gene Ball, who was a clinical rheumatologist at UAB for many years. Every day on rotation, we saw someone who had some unusual, exotic disease that was difficult to diagnose on the rheumatology service. As we were beginning to understand how abnormalities in the immune system manifest as autoimmune diseases, this dovetailed with my interest in the subject. Based on my experience on the rheumatology rotation with Dr. Ball and his colleagues, I decided I wanted to be a rheumatologist.
I went on to do my internship and residency at Parkland Hospital and the University of Texas Southwestern, in Dallas. Most of the residents in this program went on to fellowships in cardiology, gastroenterology or pulmonary medicine. Of that group, I was the only one who wanted to pursue rheumatology. In fact, I was actually the first person in 10 years from the program who chose rheumatology. Again, I was fortunate to work with Dr. Morris Ziff, who was the division chief and a giant in the field during my fellowship.
I have now been practicing rheumatology for 42 years and have had a wonderful experience working with patients, many of whom I have worked with for decades. I have also been fortunate to be involved in clinical research that has resulted in game-changing treatments for inflammatory arthritis that have dramatically improved quality of life for many patients.
When you are young, you never know how things might work out. I was fortunate to have been exposed to leaders in the rheumatology/immunology field at a time when I was having to decide a career path.
Stanley Cohen, MD
Clinical professor
Department of internal medicine
University of Texas Southwestern Medical School
Medical Co-director
Metroplex Clinical Research Center