Physician Assistants: Unsung Presidential-like Healthcare Professionals

            

        When it comes to naming the toughest job on the planet many are quick to point out that being President of The United States is at the top of the list. It’s not difficult to see why and understand this at first glance, but at a closer look, the same could be said about a few other professions too. However, I would submit to you that we [PAs] are about as close as any other ones. How might you say? Literally or metaphorically speaking, we [ PAs] are akin to the president in many respects, to a certain degree & in a general sense the same intense collective challenges, scrutiny & tremendous unrealistic expectations by so many others.

        Much like the president nowadays, facing daily increased pressure with compounding transactional complexities, requiring intense flawless decision-making moves, so do us practicing medicine in a fragmented, chaotic industry notorious for its very unforgiving litigious atmosphere and the ever-increasing world of burdensome regulations.

       Similarly, we’re expected to be assertive, but not domineering in our dealings with others, deliberative, but not appear indecisive all while advocating and empathizing without overpromising when being called to be stewards of the imperfect healthcare system (i.e., money-hungry Big Pharma, profit-making 3^rd party payers, an inefficient tort system and the list goes on).

       Also, historians and political observers agree there has been an increased disdain for the oval office in recent years. For instance, the press media was once considered less sensationalistic in their coverage of our presidents’ limitations like FDR’s wheelchair-bound existence or JKF’s notorious extra-marital affairs. Naturally, we the PA community are all too familiar with this surge of intense inter-professional disrespect in recent years, and the cyclical cyberspace backlash is also part of this malady. The never-ending misguided and misinformed portrayal of the PA community or being devalued in the broadcasting and print media has not gone unnoticed by our community, nor is it new nor will break our spirit. Just like past presidents, who must be balanced true diligent advocates, perpetually being strategic visionaries, in that stance, we similarly embody the positive traits of all our great presidents even though our job may be viewed as nonpresidential. Yet, while we might not sit in the oval office,  our jobs are often times the second or the 3^rd “toughest job in the world”,,,akin to the president's in my view.