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| The Payback |
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by Bob Blumm, MA, PA-C, DFAAPA - May 2, 2011
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I was actually going to write an article on this topic next week but after the historic incident of Sunday night, I could not miss out on the opportunity to speak as a member of the PA profession, as a team member of the 9/11 services provided at Ground Zero, as a former Vietnam Veteran, as a friend of parents who lost their son in World Trade Center, Building ll and as an American.
My wife, who sufferers from insomnia, awakened me at 0400 today (Monday) to share the TV footage of President Obama making a speech to the American people on the accomplishments of our country finding, planning and executing an operation that ultimately led to the demise of a heinous villain whose ultimate joy was in the death of innocent people in many countries of the world. Osama Bin Laden seemed to be untouchable and unable to be discovered, in spite of satellites that can read your license plate from space, yet through intelligence, detective work, planning and rehearsals, the payback came suddenly and unsuspectingly on this terrorist leader. There is a proverb that says “nothing is hidden that shall not be revealed,” and coupled with it would be the philosophy that regardless of our crimes and our status, every person will someday face a payback.
I can hear the echo of the title of this small composition on the mouths of our service men and servicewomen in all five branches of the armed forces. I can feel the intense emotion of these words when I think of the many demonstrations of this idea as I watched “Criminal Minds.” It is an emotion that is embraced or internally discovered after a bad divorce, a financial scheme that steals life savings from retired people such as the Ponzi schemes of the last decade, yet I want to remind all PAs and NPs that the words “the payback” can evoke many positive feelings as well.
I reflect on the unselfish behavior of my father in law and my mother-in law, one a retired Chief of the NYPD and the other a retired Director of nursing. These two professionals and wonderful parents and people, had their fingers on the pulse of my growing family and intuitively knew our hour of need. When the summer heat waves came upon us, suddenly used air conditioners showed up on our doorsteps providing comfort for our small family. With the combination of two children, three cats, and a dog, the life of our furniture was somewhat shortened by about ten years , these same in-laws suddenly needed new furniture and guess who was the recipient of the “old furniture” that looked like new?
We have now entered that period of life where we try to emulate their actions by caring for the surviving widows and keeping a keen eye on our own children. We are a family, just like yours. We reward faithfulness and commitment with faithfulness and commitment. We have the opportunity, the responsibility and the privilege of giving back in many tangible ways. This will never become a task but rather a gesture of love that demonstrates the true meaning of payback. Both PAs and NPs also have a debt that remains unpaid but with a small amount of prompting, will surface in a wonderful manner. Next week I will stay on this same subject but focus on our websites, journals, professional organizations, specialty groups, state groups and describe the scenario under three headings: opportunity, responsibility and privilege.
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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