In Memoriam

Our colleague Sidney Kobrin passed away several months ago in a tragic accident.  He was a gentle man, a great clinician and teacher and a remarkably compassionate caregiver. In medicine we call this virtue humanism; in Sidney’s case it was love, compassion, and respect in the highest degree. In the Renal Division it was understood that he was the ideal physician for the emotionally fragile and demanding. I know that he felt the burden of being patient with them, but as far as I can tell he never stinted on his attention and concern. Patients adored him. I had the privilege of being his patient, briefly, and I felt the tenderness and care that his patients rave about. Though he had keen intelligence, depth of knowledge, and clinical acumen, he was very humble. Of the many phrases indelibly associated with him, two exemplify his humility. One was his reply to a standard how are you: “Could be worse,” he would say with a shrug and modest toss of the head. The other was his typical and slightly paranoid reply to a random call from a colleague: “Am I in trouble?” He was devoted to his wife and family. He was the role model for two children who are now physicians. He cared for his aging parents. It is a bitter irony that care for his father factored in his fatal accident. He loved to tell a story, used props in his lectures, and had the same concern and devotion for trainees that he had for patients. These things made him an extraordinary teacher. Tributes from former fellows testify to his lasting influence.

 

Sidney was proud of his South African heritage. Though he was not a golfer, we talked and watched golf together, and he kept careful track of how the South Africans were doing. I looked forward to more golf watching and other socializing after his retirement – he was just beginning to cut back his clinical load – but that will not be. The affection and admiration of his colleagues have now deepened into love. He will always be remembered by those who knew him in the Penn community as one of the finest physicians and human beings we ever knew.  

-Submitted by Alan Wasserstein, MD