Didier Demesmin, M.D.
Didier Demesmin, M.D., a pain specialist at Saint Peter’s University Hospital is a self-described sports freak.
A self-described sports freak, Didier Demesmin, M.D., a pain specialist at Saint Peter’s University Hospital, was born in New Jersey, grew up in Haiti and returned to the Garden State to attend Rutgers University and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He interned as an ob/gyn at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York, was a resident in anesthesia at SUNY Downstate Medical School in Brooklyn, and completed a fellowship in pain management at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York. Dr. Demesmin, 42, lives in Belle Mead with his wife, Hyesung (his practice’s financial officer), his son Stefan, 10, and his daughter Meena, 5. He has been at Saint Peter’s since 2006.
What led you to medicine? I am one of 12 physicians in my family, counting cousins, aunts and uncles, so I was always exposed to medicine and interested in medicine and science. My goal at Rutgers was always to go to medical school.
Why did you move from ob/gyn to pain management? My uncle did obstetrics, and I liked the surgical aspect of it. but it’s a tough lifestyle. My mother had cancer when I was 11 or 12 and was in a lot of pain. I watched her suffer at home; there was nothing to give her. so that always was something I wanted to do, to relieve suffering.
Tell me about your passion for sports. Sports is the ultimate reality show, and much of what we do in life requires a team approach. sSars, coaches, assistants and scouts—all have their equivalents in almost any field.
Do you play? I played soccer and basketball in Haiti, and I still do. My son plays as well. My daughter swims and plays tennis, and my wife is a huge sports fan. I follow the New York teams, but I’m really a Lakers fan. I watched them in Haiti when they had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and those guys, and the full-sized basketball court i built at home last summer is in their colors—purple and gold.
