Viewpoint FROM THE CHIEF MEDICAL EDITOR

And the Blue Ribbon Winner Is…

Larry E. Patterson, M.D.

"A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon."
—Napoleon Bonaparte

As you read this, there's a good chance you are attending, or just got back from, the AAO meeting in Atlanta. Unless of course you decided the journey from Spokane was just a bit too much this year. I love the big medical meetings, going all the way back to my first one as a third-year resident in 1987. I remember seeing all those important doctors walking around. You could spot them from the others by two tell-tale signs. First, they had people gathered around them, waiting for juicy pearls they could take home and use in their practices. Second, they had ribbons. Lots and lots of ribbons.

It was at that first meeting that I aspired to someday have ribbons also. Within a few years, I got my first one. I think it was for being a State Society Member, and it was pink — but, hey, it was a ribbon! Next came things like Eyecare America Volunteer and Ophthpac ribbons. The granddaddy of them all, the awe-inspiring purple Program Participant ribbon, eluded me for some time. Even that finally came my way.

As time went on and I became involved in more things, the ribbon count grew. The Outpatient Ophthalmic Surgery Society provided me with a Member, then Board, and finally Vice President ribbon. I'll be sporting my Presidential ribbon this year.

The ribbons kept coming. If you are young and ribbon-poor, please understand the complexities of being ribbon-enriched. Trying to attach them all to the same badge requires a certain amount of finesse. While you can't read any of the ribbons except the one on top, you can space them evenly in a color pallete that is both tasteful and pleasing to the visual senses. Somewhere in the last year or two, I realized it had gotten out of hand. I was actually spending time in my hotel room color-coordinating my ribbons! Not that there's anything wrong with that.

So this year, I resolved to do what my more mature colleagues have done, many who probably have twice the ribbons: no more than two or three ribbons. That's it. You've got to put your foot down somewhere. I'm proud of my efforts that warrant a ribbon, but nobody can see them all anyway. If you can't read it, it's not going on my badge. Of course, I'll be in my room trying to decide which two or three ribbons to sport, and in what order, but hopefully that won't take long. By next year I may swear off ribbons altogether.

It's the natural order of things. You desire things, you get them and later decide you really didn't need them at all. Hmm, will that bit of insight earn me a blue ribbon for editorial writing? Regardless, enjoy your meeting in Atlanta!