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Back To The Basics
The Never Ending Journey for PAs and NPs
Bob Blumm, MA, PA-C, DFAAPA
I have had a full career as a PA and have served in many specialties and organizations. When I first became the president –elect of New York State a couple of decades ago, I promised myself that I would try to serve in as many areas as possible so that I would be familiar with the responsibilities and the workload of every PA in the state. I thought that the best manner in which to represent professionals is to be aware of the pressures and responsibilities that they encounter every day. With few exceptions, I have been in almost all of the roles and have learned many lessons that were worth sharing with my colleagues. My mother-in-law was a Director of Nursing when I dated her daughter and she heard me explain to someone at her summer party that a PA is more than a nurse and less than a doctor. She said; “like hell they are!” Years late I agree with her 100% as we all have specific responsibilities that sometimes overlap but the sum of which is meant to assist the patient on a road to recovery and later to wellness.
As both NPs and PAs we find ourselves in a unique situation. We are officially 42 years old as a profession and most citizens of the United States have no idea of what an NP or PA is or what their responsibilities are. Poor marketing? Perhaps. It is the responsibility of all PAs and NPs to give their patients a short but effective three sentence summary of our profession. It was once said;”you have not because you ask not, ask and you will receive so that you may be joyful.” Has either of our professional organizations asked us to create a short summary that defines who we are and what we do? Perhaps this should be a contest but it would be great to see about fifty ambitious NPs and PAs summarize what they do.
Over the years we have become proud of whom we are and our daily contributions to health care in the USA. During this same period of time our patients share the pride as they choose to utilize our services and walk away fulfilled because their needs have been met and someone has taken the time to explain their problem and in addition, how to prevent it. If they think that we are the best thing since penicillin or apple pie, then we need to incorporate their assistance in this same task of defining our name.
Every journey starts with a beginning and an end. We are already well on the road that leads to our destination but now is the time to hit a “rest stop” and get down to the basics of explaining, once and for all, the responsibilities that go with the titles. After this task I hope to start a “Basics” that will help both our professions to define problems and treat patients. Down the road, others will jump in and share their thoughts and soon we will have developed a nice column for Advanced Practice Jobs that will assist our professions in maintaining excellent standards of care for the most important people in our lives---our patients.
Can I count on you to help start the first part of this initiative today?
Send your comments to Tim or myself. I’m at surgblumm@gmail.com
Warmly,
Bob Blumm, MA, PA-C, DFAAPA
 Robert M. Blumm has received national recognition as a distinguished fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA). He is the past president of the Association of Plastic Surgery Physician Assistants, and was past-president of the American Association of Surgical Physician Assistants, past president of the American College of Clinicians and NYSSPA, as well as Chairman of the Surgical Congress of the AAPA. In addition, Bob received the John Kirklin MD Award for Professional Excellence from the American Association of Surgical Physician Assistants. Along with his associate, Dr. Acker, Bob was the first recipient of the AAPA PAragon Physician-PA Partnership Award. He has been a contributing author of three textbooks, written 150 plus articles and is a sought out conference speaker throughout the United States.
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