Kirk Sidey

Oct 21, 2024 | opmed.doximity.com | Paul Bergeron |Sophia Uddin |Ajibike Lapite |Kirk Sidey

Navigating the path of a medical residency is tough and full of surprises. As someone who’s been through it, I want to share some tips to help you get ready for what’s coming. Residency isn’t just about sharpening your clinical skills and learning more about medicine; it’s also about handling a bunch of other responsibilities and pressures you might not see coming.

Oct 21, 2024 | opmed.doximity.com | Sophia Uddin |Paul Bergeron |Ajibike Lapite |Kirk Sidey

Imagine you are six years old in 1956. At a dentist appointment, you learn that you have a cavity, and the tooth must be pulled. Your nerves get the better of you, and the tears begin. The dentist slaps your face and admonishes you to stop crying. Unfortunately, this is a real patient experience. Intellectually, this patient knows that she will never again have such an experience.

Oct 21, 2024 | opmed.doximity.com | Ajibike Lapite |Kirk Sidey |Alexander T. Yahanda

I listened to morning report as I weaved through vendors in the side streets of Gaborone, Botswana. A week prior, I was a supervising resident on the inpatient pulmonology service at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. My ego was bruised on the first day of my global hematology/oncology rotation at Princess Marina Hospital (PMH); it took 10 minutes for me to recognize that some of my medical training would be irrelevant in this setting. It took a few days for me to establish a new routine.

Oct 21, 2024 | opmed.doximity.com | Kirk Sidey |Alexander T. Yahanda |Vincent Myers

“If it’s wet, make it dry; if it’s dry, make it wet.” I can still remember the general surgeon’s playful response when, as a fourth-year medical student, I told him I was going into dermatology. I should say mostly playful, with only a hint of condescension. I suspect it is a rite of passage to hear this phrase at some point in one’s dermatologic training.