Unveiling Ceremony (Combat Medic Sculpture)
Watch a video of the Combat Medic Sculpture Unveiling Ceremony
Remembering Our Past to Assure Our Future
Donald M. Pedersen, PA-C, PhD
University of Utah Physician Assistant Program, Salt Lake City, Utah
Combat medics and corpsmen serving in the Vietnam conflict were the genesis of the physician assistant (PA) profession. These veterans, who provided lifesaving medical care under the most harrowing of conditions, were the inspiration for and the first enrollees in PA educational programs across the country. Their skills would have, for the most part, gone to waste had it not been for the PA movement in the United States.
Combat medics and corpsmen, with their extensive practical experience and additional training in PA programs across the United States have significantly increased the availability of needed primary health care services in rural and inner city communities in this country and around the globe.
Speaking on behalf of the board, the staff, and all of the members of the AAPA, AAPA Executive Vice President Dr. Stephen Crane thanked those who made the afternoon a reality, and congratulated the Utah program on a job well done. Dr. Crane went on to say that AAPA was pleased to be a financial contributor to this most worthy of projects, and thanked everyone for the effort. Here are Dr. Crane's comments:
It is not enough to cure—it is also necessary to care. Caring takes very special qualities in an individual, of which there is an abundance among PAs. These include: selflessness, self-sacrifice, empathy, and love. These qualities are expressed especially by those who provide service in underserved areas. One of the things that has impressed me most in my almost 30 years with the profession are the stories of those who serve in rural and inner city areas, or wherever medical care is hard to find.
The Utah program has distinguished itself in preparing people for this service and I congratulate you on this. We also are acknowledging today, in this very special place, the importance of heroes and heroism. Quentin Crisp, a British writer of the 1980s, said and I quote:
"To be a person of destiny is to arrive at a point in history when the only gift you have to offer has suddenly become relevant."
Keynote Address
Next at the podium was Elmo Taylor, my friend and PA classmate. Elmo has lived the motto “Lifesaver Then—Caregiver Now.” He was a medic with the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam from 1968–1969. He later became a physician assistant and was in the eighth class of the Utah program. He subsequently practiced at the Wayne County Clinic in Bicknell, Utah, for a dozen years—living the mission of service to the underserved. Here are his words on that day:
Throughout recorded history there has been conflict, resulting in pain and suffering—creating a need for the caregiver. Accepting the call to serve, out of a sense of duty, patriotism, and a realization that the freedoms we enjoy in this land are not always free. The incredible journey of one Army medic. Life saver then—caregiver now— physician assistant.
The duty of the medic was to stabilize the patient for medivac to obtain more definitive care, oftentimes not knowing the outcome. Hoping the care was sufficient. Many paying the ultimate price. Time heals many wounds, both physical and mental. We try to remember the good times and forget the bad. As we meet this day to pay tribute to the military medic, the life saver, it is important to remember, both the good and bad.
Remembering: the soldier giving buddy aid to his fallen comrade, by neatly applying a field dressing, with direct pressure to a very small wound on the anterior of his comrades chest. Concerned that his buddy is not responding. Not realizing that the exit wound in his back was larger then his fist. With a sympathetic pat on his shoulder, the medic moves on to help the next casualty. Having a fellow soldier not 3 feet from you, received a gunshot wound to his thigh. Dragging him to a safer location to stabilize a fractured femur and gunshot wound. You notice next to your location an unexplored artillery round. And you wonder “what am I doing? and what am I doing here?”
Remembering: the platoon leader of a mechanized unit, waiting for his replacement, with orders in his hand to meet his wife in Hawaii. Volunteers for one last mission, to help rescue an infantry platoon that has taken numerous casualties and is pinned down by enemy fire. After the conflict, assessing his lifeless body, lying in the bottom of his armored personnel carrier. Try to make sense of it all. Realizing he had no obligation to be there. His assignment had been completed.
To maintain any mental stability, was the knowledge that your primary mission was to save lives, and not just to take them. Trying to convince a very young new soldier, that you do not treat ringworm with mosquito repellent. The combat medic with his limited knowledge and resources, called to do extraordinary service to those in need. My first exposure to the Medex project was in our family doctor's waiting room. A brochure introducing this new health care professional. Describing an independent duty Navy Corpsman, and the additional training he had received as a Medex. And I thought, I've been there and I could do that. Thanks, Bob Jeleco, Utah Medex Class One. After years of preparation and additional medical training, and the infamous PA selection process, I found myself as a very proud member of Medex Class VIII. Following a very intense accelerated didactic phase, I was privileged to participate in an excellent preceptorship program, with a very pro-PA medical practice, in Fort Morgan, Colorado. After completion of the Medex program, and national certification, I continued employment in this setting for a few years.
The ceremony attendees enjoy the shade on the grounds of Ft. Douglas Cemetery on a warm summer day
With a desire to return to Utah, I found myself employed by a rural satellite health clinic, in Bicknell, Utah. There I was! On independent medical duty — 60 miles from the closest hospital and my supervising physician. Scared to death, and expected to know what I was doing. It soon became apparent that I had received excellent training, and the realization that I had been trained and exposed to almost every medical condition I was called on to treat.
Gaining acceptance with the local medical community, the volunteer EMT organization. Working with the state EMS, who had no provisions for a PA to ride on an ambulance. Going through the EMT training and becoming an instructor. Gaining the confidence and acceptance of all the community. Being on call 24/7. With the concern of “burnout.” With the reference of having been a combat medic, my current work load never did get that hard.
Remembering: the first emergency childbirth, in the back of an ambulance, going way too fast, dodging livestock and deer … successfully delivering a breach baby … suture a laceration before 6 a.m. Christmas morning on my kitchen table … conducting a clinic tour on a Sunday afternoon for a vacationing physician, from the University of Utah, School of Medicine. An out-of-town hunter drives up with an injured person who was in a rollover. With the assistance of this physician, the stabilization and transport of a C-spine fracture. Thanks, Dr. Castle. The pain threshold of a corneal foreign body is approximately 3 a.m. … the one man “code” … I had been asked why I did not stay at this rural clinic. After 11 years I thought I had. Thanks to my wife and family for all of the missed holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
On behalf of all combat medics, I thank you for the opportunity to say “Thanks for remembering.” As a PA, I say thanks to the national and state organizations, and all those who make this PA profession what it is today.”
John died while his magnificent work of art was being cast at the foundry. With his passing we lost a man who was an artistic treasure. I know he would have enjoyed the day his work was unveiled and I believe he was there with us celebrating this achievement. His son Adrian was there, and shared these words with us:
Conclusion
Unfortunately our world continues to struggle over differences in ideologies and outright inhumanities continue to occur. When called upon, military medics and corpsmen continue their noble tradition of standing ready to save and to heal—placing themselves in harm's way. We will not forget the sacrifices they have made in the past and the sacrifices they continue to make on a daily basis around the world.
As a natural outgrowth of the attitudes and orientations of medics and corpsmen—today's physician assistants continue this tradition of service to the most vulnerable in our society.
Clockwise from above: Mary Ettari, PA-C, MPH, president of the PA Foundation, addresses the attendees and reflects on the origins of the profession and the foundation. Sculpture unveiled by Don Pedersen and Adrian Prazen. Dr. William Wilson and Dr. Hilmon Castle, cofounders of the Utah (MEDEX) Physician Assistant Program, share their reflections of the beginning of the program and the profession. Combat medic sculpture as displayed today outside the Utah Physician Assistant Program building.