Growing up in Nigeria, Orthopedic Surgeon Didi Omiyi, MD, learned early in life the importance of helping others, as he witnessed his parents often helping others in need. “It feels good making someone else feel better,” he explained.
He left home as a young boy and attended boarding school where community service was an important aspect of his education. Practicing medicine was what he has wanted to do with his life since he was young.
Dr. Omiyi said that part of the reason he went into medicine was to fulfill a desire to make connections with people. Quick to offer a smile or even a hearty laugh, Dr. Omiyi lives out his dream and the values his parents instilled. “I truly like talking with patients and listening to their histories to learn how their conditions are affecting them, and then I try to find solutions,” he said. “I meet my patients where they are in life, and learn what they are trying to accomplish with surgery. Maybe they like to participate in sports or do line dancing again. That knowledge puts it in the context of what it means to them to regain function.”
“It is humbling when I am able to help someone with a difficult problem,” he said.
When it came time to select a college, Dr. Omiyi opted for the United States because it has some of the finest medical schools in the world. He chose Creighton University, Omaha, Neb., for an undergraduate degree in physics and biology, and he earned a master’s in biomedical sciences from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Dr. Omiyi completed his medical training at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and he did orthopedic training at Howard University Hospital in Washington, DC. He went on to complete a fellowship in orthopedics and sports medicine at Insall Scott Kelly Institute for Orthopedics and Sports Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital, N.Y., where he focused on adult reconstructive and sports medicine. “Dr. Insall is credited with developing the modern knee replacement procedure. It was kind of cool training at one of the institutions that was at the forefront of what we do daily as orthopedic surgeons.”
“I always thought I wanted to do surgery; it just felt more natural [a fit than other specialties],” Dr. Omiyi said. “Orthopedics affords me the ability to make an almost immediate impact in a person’s life. I can immediately see what I do helps them and corrects their problem.”
Dr. Omiyi relishes being able to treat patients with end-stage arthritis. “The procedures take away pain and improve quality of life and function.”
Dr. Omiyi treats disorders of the hip, knee and shoulder; specializes in hip and knee replacement and revision surgery; partial knee replacement and robotic surgery of the knee and hip; lower extremity trauma; and general orthopedics. He is certified to use a Mako Robotic arm in surgery that improves outcomes for knee and hip replacements.
“My goal is to always put my patients first and help them achieve their goals and get them where they want to be,” he said. “I listen to them and establish a partnership with them. Any medical decision is a shared decision between the patient and me. I am just fortunate enough to have the knowledge, but the decision on which direction we go is up to the patient.”
Dr. Omiyi finds working with people to be one of the most rewarding aspects of his life. “I see it as much more than just a job. It is more of a calling, to help others, to serve, to make a difference and to enjoy what I do along the way,” he said.
He is certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
For more information or to make an appointment with Dr. Omiyi, call the SBL Bonutti Clinic at 217 342-3400.