PAs and NPs------Unmasked.

In the Book of Wisdom Solomon says;"stand in the presence of the Gray haired ones.” I'm not asking anyone to stand when I walk into a room because my gray hair is shared by partial alopecia or baldness. Why this corny remark? I think that I am being reflective tonight and feel like encouraging my peers to travel down a road with me.

Life is a journey in which we all start exactly the same , as infants, and then we travel down the road before us. Many times we take either wrong turns or U turns or sometimes detours but eventually both you and I will come to the end of our journey. Before the journey is completed you will discover the answer to three questions; Who am I? Why am I here? What do I hope to learn? The answers will differ for all of us and hopefully we have solved the dilemma before we close our eyes in death.
When I think of the question, who am I, I am forced to look closely in the mirror and stare at my reflection. I observe that I have two faces, one for my patients and colleagues and one for my loved ones.

The Greek philosopher Diogenes was supposed to have carried a lantern through the streets in midday, searching for an honest man. Integrity is doing what you said you would do! The ancient Greeks used the word “hupokrites"to describe the actor in a play who is wearing a mask. This root word is where we get our english word “hypocrite”, a label that we look at with disdain but in reality may be addressed to ourselves on reflection.

I have actually had two careers in my lifetime, one as a minister and one as a PA. My wife, the most honest person I have ever met, in frustration at different times in my journey asked; Why can't you treat me like our parishioners and while working as a PA, why can't you treat me like your patients? This is , in realty, a scathing indictment as to who I really am. I served my patients and my spiritual community in one manner, wearing a mask to encourage and affirm them and when home I let the mask fall , only to see that I was not always the jovial fellow that most folk loved. I can now answer the first question, I know who I really am.

Why am I here? Well, for many reasons and this is made clearer every day. I am here to serve and be a servant. I am here to lead, to approve, to encourage but I am also here to listen to the words of my family, who in love, serve me with their honesty. The greatest gift that many of us have are our loved ones, our families, our significant other. How far down the road of life’s journey must we travel before we appreciate this? This brings me to the conclusion of this treatise.

What do I hope to learn? Sometime in the next decade or two I'll see a sign that says, road closed or dead end. My goal is to learn life’s most important lessons before I reach that closed road. I hope to learn that what really matters in life is not titles and positions, not wealth and fame, not the accomplishment of my goals or winning the favor of my fellow professionals. I hope to learn to have a clear vision of why I am here and to drop my mask and to place my energy into being a better husband and father. I hope to fulfill my destiny which is like a scroll that unfolds more every day. I hope to learn that to accomplish these things I need to be willing to be unmasked and to enjoy the pleasure of being all that I can to those who really mean the most to me. Why wait to the end of the journey to discover yourself? Discover the real treasure that lies within you and share it with those that love you today.

Bob Blumm

Robert M. Blumm, MA, RPA-C, DFAAPA
Immediate Past President, American College of Clinicians
President, Association of Plastic Surgery Physician Assistants
Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties."