Siddharth Kogilwaimath, MD, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
I am an Infectious Diseases specialist with a keen interest in HIV and other STBBIs as well as treating infections in people who inject drugs. I previously worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of Saskatchewan, where I was heavily involved in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. In order to address the acute need for HIV care providers, I spearheaded a medical education project that received funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada, and this program was instrumental in training primary care physicians from across the province in HIV care. Due to its popularity, we expanded this program to cover hepatitis C and other STBBIs.
I have always been interested in medical education- perhaps it is the satisfaction of sharing knowledge and influencing change through education at all levels of a medical career.
The academic component of my job at the University of Saskatchewan allowed me the flexibility to focus on medical education.
I had never thought I would develop medical education into a career when I started my job. The more involved I became with medical education, the more I wanted to explore it and ground myself. The academic component of my job at the University of Saskatchewan allowed me the flexibility to focus on medical education.
It's exciting to share your knowledge and be challenged on it by people who hold different perspectives such that you learn through the process. It's also very satisfying to be able to demystify and destigmatize topics such as HIV/STBBIs and influence a positive change in current/future colleagues across the breadth of practices and specialties. The best part of medical education is when you manage to spark an interest in Infectious Diseases in a student or a colleague.