By Roger A. Bowles, MS, EdD, CBET
Sometimes the past determines the future. I truly believe that the late Patrick K. Lynch determined a lot of our futures. He did mine. I remember the day I found out that I passed the CBET examination. I remember the day I received my CBET certification in the mail. It was in December of 1993. If I remember right, the number at the bottom was 2212 and it was signed at the bottom by Patrick K. Lynch. I remember looking at that name and wondering who he was. I found out later, much later, and my impression and admiration of Patrick K. Lynch only grew over the years.
The first time I met Pat was after I had been an instructor at Texas State Technical College for a few years. I can’t remember the exact details, but I do remember that he visited our students several times over the years and talked about what it took to be a successful biomedical equipment technician. The man never failed to impress me, and he certainly made a huge impression on our students. His presence in a room was commanding and undeniably powerful. Pat just demanded your respect when he spoke. He certainly earned and received mine and that of my students. He gave several presentations at our school and always had crowds of students waiting around after his presentation. He always made time for each of them and answered every question. The students always commented to me about how fired up they were about biomed after he spoke. I’ll never forget that and I’m sure they won’t either.
I remember running into Pat several times at AAMI Expos and MD Expos over the years. The most memorable ones were when he was with GMI as the biomedical ambassador. I remember one occasion in Charlotte, N.C., when we had an excellent time together. I admit, I probably overindulged on at least one of those occasions, but I did make some excellent connections and Pat was directly responsible. Those times resulted in fantastic professional opportunities and donations.
I admired Pat. I looked up to Pat. And, I still do. Pat was one of those guys who I thought represented what biomed was and I enjoyed hanging around him. He always drew a crowd, and everyone knew him. Where Pat went, the crowd went. He was a fountain of knowledge. Pat was fun.
Later in his career, he reached out to me when he was involved with Biomeds Without Borders. I wish I could have helped him more with some of those endeavors. He did serve as a resource to me when we were considering starting a local biomedical equipment technician association in the Central Texas area. He never hesitated to pick up the phone or answer my emails with answers to seemingly dozens of questions about the process.
I was devastated when I learned of Pat’s illness. I regret not reaching out to him and expressing to him what he meant to me and how much he influenced my career. I really thought he would kick the disease in the butt and recover. I was hoping I would catch up with him at the next gathering. I was hoping I would have the chance to tell him what he meant to my career. I hope he knows that now.
This column is called “The Future.” Sometimes the future is directly affected by the past. In the case of Patrick K. Lynch, a lot of futures will be determined by his influence. Thank you, Pat. I’ll miss you.
