After completing radiology registrarship at UCT in 1990, Dr Richard Pitcher spent a decade in private practice on the Cape West Coast. During this time he did no teaching or research and towards the end felt increasingly unfulfilled.  When the position of Head of Paediatric Radiology at Red Cross Children’s Hospital became vacant in 2001, he was offered the post. After much introspection, he sold his practice and returned to the public sector to embark on an academic career. 

Speaking on his feelings at the time he says, “I was 43 years old, research-naïve and without teaching experience, but had a real sense of a calling.”

A year later he got his first taste of research when he was invited to report the chest radiographs of children enrolled in a large collaborative study of HIV-infected children. At the time, HIV-infected children in South Africa had very limited access to anti-retroviral therapy. The stark finding that the majority of children had very extensive chest radiographic abnormalities became the  overriding interest and the focus of his doctoral research. 

In 2006 Dr Pitcher enrolled for his PhD with Professor Heather Zar as supervisor and Professor Steven Beningfield as co-supervisor. So began another decade of work, defined by remarkable mentorship and sheer detemination to complete what he had started. His doctorate exemplifies the old and possibly worn adage, “The journey is the destination”. Dr Pitcher’s thesis included published work which set the bar high from the beginning and taught him a valuable lesson in mentorship. 

“The richness of my experience lies in the pleasure and privilege of ten years of sustained, focused and empowering academic supervision. After the research question, the choice of Supervisor remains a student’s most important consideration. I was blessed with incisive and strategic supervision at every stage of the project. I have also had the enormous satisfaction of applying the lessons learned while supervising my own postgraduate students.” 

With responsibilities as full-time head of an academic division, finding time for personal doctoral research was an on-going challenge. The work was largely done after-hours, mainly in the early hours of the morning, before his family stirred. In the moments where his work encroached on family time, Dr Pitcher credits the support of his family who embraced his need to undertake this work and for their resolute support and encouragement throughout.