November has a day set aside for giving thanks. It is usually celebrated around a table where family near and far, friends old and new come together to acknowledge the lives they share, the memories they made and the warmth of the home they sit in with its generous offerings at the meal set in front of them. More importantly, a few weeks prior, the nation takes a full day to stop the ordinary and commemorate the exceptional, those who serve in our name for the sake of protecting us all and for those who gave their most precious lives in the course of that service.
As our profession, physician assistant, is the evolution of the Medical Corpsman, we, even more than others, must pause, take a minute or more and say thank you to those who stand in harm’s way to assure we remain free, safe and American. For those families who have empty place settings at their Thanksgiving meal, either temporarily or permanently, I and I urge all the AASPA membership, take a minute and say thank you for giving meaning to the word hero.
- Bob Sammartano, RPA-C
I would add to Bob's comments, in that the other people responsible were the Marine Corpsman and Army Medic and Navy Hospitalman. These all were the fore runners of the first PAs and who shed their blood and saved their fellow soldiers by placing themselves in harms way to provide the shield and the medical care to help the wounded serviceman to survive. What struck me hard was that many of these fine men and women will be serving both in Iraq and Afghanistan this thanks giving while we enjoy the fellowship and love of our families.
Say a special prayer regardless of your religious affiliation to both remind the family and to request of the all powerful god by whatever name you know him to be the Rock that protects them, the wings that enfold them and the one that promised that a hundred will fall at your side but no harm shall befall you. Perhaps for the interested individuals you can read the 91st Psalm and revive your own faith in the promise that I held so close to my heart when I was in harms way.
There are no soldiers in foxholes that are without faith. We are ever reminded of the presence of the "invisible soldier" who promise that He will never leave us. As families in these United Sates we need to re-appreciate our liberty, our freedom and our faith. We need to shed a tear for the one that is placing their life on the line while we eat our turkey. It will give us a few more things to be Thankful about.
- Bob Blumm, MA, PA-C, DFAAPA
After graduating from Fordham University with a degree in biology, Bob Sammartano started his surgical career in 1972 as the surgical research associate to Dr. Scott J. Boley, then Chief of Pediatric Surgical Services at the Montefiore Medical Center-Albert Einstein College of Medicine. As Dr. Boley’s research associate for twenty years, Bob was exposed daily to the treatment of pediatric patients with surgical conditions. Those conditions ranged from the "bread and butter" hernias, lumps and bumps to the index pediatric surgical cases of imperforate anus, tracheoesophageal fistlula and omhpalocele. Bob and his PA mentor Mr. Michael Sheran, a founding member of NYSSPA and the world’s first pediatric surgical PA, worked closely for 11 years and ran the Pediatric GI motility lab under Dr. Boley’s guidance. In the lab, motility disorders of the esophagus, GER, chronic constipation, Hirschsprung’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease were all investigated. In 1991, Bob went to Yale to become a PA. In 1993, he returned to Montefiore and entered the Postgraduate Residency in Surgery for PAs. After completing the residency, Bob became and remains the Senior Surgical PA in Pediatric Surgery at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. In 2003, he became the program director of the Montefiore Postgraduate Residency in Surgery for PAs. He is the Northeast Director at Large of the American Association of Surgical PAs, a member of the Surgical Congress of AAPA and the Chief Delegate for Surgery of the AAPA HOD
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.
The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.
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.
The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.
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