I am a full-time Physician Assistant (PA). For patients who aren’t familiar with me, they often ask, “Who are you?”

I then go into my monotonous mini-speech on how PAs can diagnose, manage, and provide continuity of care for all medical conditions. I then continue on about how we can order labs, prescribe medication, interpret x-rays, and even complete important legal documents, like death certificates.

Once the introductions have passed, my patients then begin telling me about themselves.

In between the diagnoses and treatment plans, I get to know who my patients are. I know them as parents, siblings, grandparents, lawyers, judges, security officers, custodians, etc. I become familiar with their stubbornness, playfulness, do’s and don’ts of medicine, and how they’re feeling on most days.

I become acquainted with who they really are. We build trust…sometimes almost a friendship.

As a PA, most patients make certain assumptions about me (really about medical providers in general). They think of a plethora of money, a brilliant mind that houses an infinite amount of knowledge, an immaculate and impenetrable bill of health, and complete dependence and faith on medicine alone.

If time and setting allowed, I wish I could answer my patients’ question, “Who are you?” differently.

Let’s pause…

Answer that question in your mind.

Who are you?

For me, I would very quickly and easily answer, “I am a daughter and disciple of Jesus Christ.”

Because, to me, every other title falls beneath this answer.

I am a PA but Jesus was and is the ultimate healer. I only wish someone could touch the hem of my white coat and cure them of all of their diseases.

²⁰ Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. ²¹ She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” ²² Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment. Matthew 9:20-22 NIV

I am also a mother, daughter, sister, writer, cyclist, dog lover, tree hugger, beach lover, reader, and the list goes on.

Even Jesus is misidentified in the bible. People thought he was John the Baptist, Jeremiah, Elijah, or one of the other prophets. But Jesus makes it clear in various places of the bible, who He is.

He is the truth. He is love. He is the way. He is the son of God. He is the sacrificial lamb. He is Jesus.

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 NIV.

Again, I ask you, Who are you? Where do you gain your identity? Is it from your job title? Your role as a parent? Your financial status? “Celebrity” status on social media?

Consider a deity that created the universe. Consider a deity that counts the stars. Consider a deity that created you. That sees you inside and out. He can count every molecule in your body, arrange it in such a way to make you unique, and then make those molecules function in a specific way, for a specific purpose.

So, who are you?

As a medical provider, my patients will never be identified by their cancer, their illness, or their medical condition(s).

As a human, no one will be classified by their skin color, their hairstyle, height, weight, gender, etc. by me.

I accept that God is the creator of the universe and his only Son, Jesus, is the one who sacrificed his life in order to save our souls. That is my only criteria for who a person is.

My prayer is that everyone learns of their creator, their savior, and thus, their own identity in Christ. There is power in this identity. It is an identity that can never be taken away from you.

If you struggle with who you are and if you’re loved, please contact me. I’ll tell you about a God who is love and thus, loves you.

I am a full-time PA. But really, I’m a daughter and disciple of Jesus Christ.

Now is the time to answer. Who are you?