A Conversation with Jeff Sicotte, MBA

Sicotte is such a unique name. How do you pronounce it?

It is Southern French. I always give people the image of fishing because it’s pronounced “sea-caught.” My dad’s side of the family is from Southern France. One of my paternal ancestors was drafted into the King’s army and went to Quebec when it was a French colony. If you go to Boucherville in Quebec, it’s an extremely popular name because that’s where my ancestor eventually settled, per my paternal grandmother’s genealogical research.

Since you grew up in the Bay Area, and your parents are from California, how did your family line end up here in the Golden State?

From my paternal side, a duo of Sicotte brothers came out to CA as blacksmiths during the gold rush. My mom’s family was mostly from the Southwest (Nevada and Arizona). My maternal grandparents grew up in Tucson, AZ, and raised their family in Las Vegas. My maternal grandfather was an electrical engineer, who worked in sales supplying generators to several power companies across the Southwest. He loved to solve technical problems for his clients, a trait that was passed down to me. My paternal grandmother’s family relocated to Taft, CA from Illinois when she was 8. Ninety percent of Taft’s industry is oil, and has a landscape abundant in dust, sweltering heat, and industrial derricks. The contrast to verdant Illinois was striking to her, even at her young age. My paternal grandparents met at Stanford, and my maternal grandparents met at Tucson High School. My family has come from all over, and we haven’t really migrated out of CA yet because it’s a great place to live.

 

Congratulations on getting married last November! How is married life? Have you guys discovered any new favorite activities or hobbies together?

It’s wonderful! It’s amazing! I love my wife, Emily. Married life is like a never-ending date with your best friend. We make food together, share fun stories, hike, play video games, and the possibilities are endless. She kept her last name Wright, so she gets to be “Mrs. Right.” Fun fact: I have a great (x3) grandmother from who was also named Emily Wright.

Have you and Emily discovered any new favorite activities or hobbies to do together?

Fruit-picking is now a big thing for us, and she got me into this. I love purchasing 5 pounds of fruit and paying $10 for it. We have a plan to go to Apple Hill in September, though I don’t really like apples all that much. We plan to pick apples and turn them into gifts for other people. On the reverse, I got her into gardening and growing food. We are growing tomatoes right now and have made excellent salsas so far. We love making food and experimenting with food. For example, we go to restaurants to try dishes, but try to recreate it ourselves at home.

Speaking about gardening and food, you grew avocado plants during the COVID shutdown. How’s that project going?

This past Spring, we transplanted the plants to my parent’s backyard and all but one of the trees died, even though my parents watered and fertilized it on a schedule. The lone survivor is still in its acclimating phase, so we’ll see if it can thrive. If I decide to grow a fruit tree in the future, I think I’ll stick with a citrus tree.

Why did you pursue healthcare & palliative medicine as a career path?

When I was 17 as a junior in high school, I thought genetic counseling was very cool. I wanted a career that was useful and was very interested in reproductive genetic counseling. With that goal in mind, I obtained my Bachelor of Science in Biology from Pacific University. To gain the necessary lab work experience, I attended the University of Missouri Kansas City in their pharmaceutical sciences program as a provisional PhD candidate. Afterwards I came back to California and joined a temp agency that staffs UCSF Health clinical administrative roles, so I worked at several UCSF clinics. Sasha Eppel (Director of UCSF Ambulatory Administration, UCSF Health) knew that Outpatient Palliative Care Service needed a medical administrator and recruited me to the role as a temporary hire. After 3 months working at OPCS, I realized that I love being part of palliative medicine and started to question if genetic counseling is right for me. I was very fortunate to be hired to the team as a full-time employee.

I love my job. I like the little detail work. I like having all the trains run on time and helping the clinic function. I like being an advocate for patients. It’s nice to find kindred souls in pharmacies and insurance companies who are all trying very hard to provide care for the patients within the bureaucracy of our various organizations.

I pursued a Master in Business Administration (MBA) at Pacific University because I wanted to understand the business administration side of healthcare. My career goal is to be in a management position in healthcare administration.

You’ve dabbled in many different medical specialty clinics. What makes you want to stay in the palliative medicine specialty for your career?

Palliative care encompasses caring for the whole person and how to live better. It’s not only treating illness, but how to support a person in their day-to-day lives. I remember a patient who would constantly have a clog in their feeding tube because he convinced his wife to blend pizza to pour down the g-tube. The change wasn’t to give up on him, but to help him order from a company that can make food that tastes and feels good.

 

You’ve dabbled in many different medical specialty clinics. What makes you want to stay in the palliative medicine specialty for your career?

A pilot. I love working with complicated and technical machinery.