Questionable PAs [ Part I ]

        I must confess, one of my biggest pet peeves that I professionally and personally struggle to deal with & comprehend is the level of PA professional apathy shown by many as disengagement or disregard to their own profession. Having said that, & on my defense I realize that we all do live very busy personal and professional lives. Moreover, not everyone has the burning desire to be an active participant. But as I said before, this behavior baffles me on an episodic basis; mostly during my one-to-one chats with former or current peers when I chat with them & discover their mistaken or incorrect impressions of our state chapter or national PA organizations.

             Naturally, I remain professionally composed and respectful of their position, even though it’s somewhat incomprehensible why not be part of the solution (pro-activity) rather than the problem (apathy). Sadly, in their very myopic view & misperception of the current reality, they don’t seem to realize they shortchange themselves greatly by missing both, the tangible & intangible benefits of fellowship & fighting for a common cause—safeguarding our prior predecessors’ legislative victories.

            They also fail to realize the consequences of their professional inactivity at all or any levels. This stance seem incredibly self-fish to me, even though it may be rationalized in a myriad of ways by these uninvolved peers. But disengaged PAs, in the grand scheme of things negatively increase the workload for the politically active ones. Simply, because they become “dead wood”. In other words, they fail to realize there’s power in numbers, but with apathy there’s loss of power and when no one is actively engaged in their own professional affairs then the worst case scenario takes place: we abdicate & essentially allow others to dictate our course and professional destiny since we do not have a unified vision or voice for that matter.

            Collective professional advancement is about taking individual action & responsibility. It is also about becoming committed to be actively involved, or actively remedying, or at the very least actively advocating for our very professional interests whether that is at the state or national level. This in turn, allow us to develop visionary insightfulness as to where we have been, where are we now and where should we been heading to. Much like a compass, steering us in the right direction.

            So if you’re still mulling the idea of becoming politically active in your profession, set aside the excuses and look at it from the big picture point of view; enhanced marketplace stability, enhanced industry respect, along with strategic/supportive legislative partnerships are all attainable, but only with persistent active involvement & determination not only for those of us who might have the time or the perceived skill set but by each and one of you too.

The bottom line, is this: the idea of all PAs coming together for a common purpose is always a good thing. Join the cause, become a non-questionable PA!

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