Making Those Around Us Feel Welcome, Valued, Heard, and Respected
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Chief Medical Editor
In this issue, we cover chronic hand eczema (CHE), a debilitating skin condition for which a new treatment, delgocitinib cream, is now available. But I do not want to talk about that, at least not directly. It is not often that I use this editorial platform for obituaries; it is quite rare really. But as I get older, more of my contemporaries are, sadly, passing on and in July, we lost a gentle giant, Robert Sidbury, MD, MPH.
I had the good fortune to meet Dr Rob Sidbury. He grew up in North Carolina and went to medical school, as I did, at Duke. There is a historical marker sign in Wrightsville Beach, NC, that I have passed many times dedicated to Rob’s grandfather, a pediatrician who established a hospital for babies there. Rob’s father, also a pediatrician, was on the faculty at Johns Hopkins, then Duke, followed by serving as scientific director at the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development.
Rob followed in those large footsteps, becoming a leading pediatric dermatologist. Over the past few years, the American Academy of Dermatology has been updating its guidelines of care for the management of atopic dermatitis in adults. Rob is a senior author on those guideline publications, undoubtedly because of his leadership role. Imagine trying to get a dozen or more top specialists to agree on anything, much less on the treatment of atopic dermatitis, but I have no doubt Rob could do it. His personality was extraordinary.
I never got to spend much time with Rob, but when I did, his warmth was palpable. As one of his friends, colleagues, and mentees said, “Rob was an incredibly thoughtful person with a special gift for connecting with others. Always a gentleman, Rob had a way of making those around him feel welcome, valued, heard, and respected.” Making those around us feel welcome, valued, heard, and respected is so valuable. I hope I can take inspiration from Rob and connect more with patients and everyone else. If I do, maybe I can, like Rob, make the world a bit better of a place, and maybe get my patients to use their topical treatments for CHE a little bit better, too.
