Chapter 04: Identifying a Purpose and a Graduate Focus in Health Psychology

Dr. Cohen begins this chapter with an anecdote about an experience he had while traveling in India that convinced him he needed to find a purpose. This motivated him to think about graduate study, and he again gravitated toward the field of health psychology, selecting a program in Medical Psychology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland (MS conferred, 1993; PHD, 1994). Dr. Cohen stresses that his aim was to go into research. He describes research he conducted during his fellowship years [1/1994-11/1995 National Cancer Institute of Canada and The Toronto Hospital, Toronto, Canada, Paul Ritvo; 1/1995-12/1997 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, National Cancer Institute of Canada, Division of Behavioral Medicine and Oncology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, Andrew Baum]. He goes into detail about his work with mentor, Andrew Baum and the value of medical school courses he took in Bethesda. He then narrates how he came to focus his research on cancer. He observes that the field of health psychology was just forming and framing research questions to explore how psychological processes have an impact on health. He recalls his excitement when reading an influential study published in 1990 that showed that HIV patients who took part in stress management had improved immune markers. He was also influenced by John Kabat-Zinn\u27s work applying eastern based philosophy to medical problems. He talks briefly about his dissertation research on the effects of surgical stress on the immune system. He recalls that the research pathways available when he left graduate school were HIV or cancer. He discusses why cancer was a good choice for him. He mentions meeting his wife, Alison Jeffries, in graduate school. He explains how he ended up working with Andrew Baum at the University of Pittsburgh, noting that he learned to collaborate with a surgeon and run a small clinical trial.https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1620/thumbnail.jp