Doctors vs Nurse Practioners. You Decide.

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If specialists make 3 times as much money--doesn't that mean we need them as well?
Or, according to basic economics, we need specialists much more that Primary Care Physicians, or the market wouldn't value them so much. Getting potential specialists to be PCPs doesn't sound like sensible solution.

How about this theory? There is a shortage of PCPs because our current method of training doctors results in a significant percentage of subclinical Aspies--folks who are really smart, but lack the social skills to be true PCPs. If this is the case, more pay won't help--they just don't have the aptitude to be PCPs and enticing them with money won't fix their lack of social skills. Instead they become Specialists who don't have to form lifelong bonds with their patients.

There are tons of Aspie experts here who know all about the ability to miraculously learn social skills given the opportunity for more pay.

Worked their way up to what, exactly?

A position that allows them to ignore flu symptoms and evangelize on Veganism?

A position that allows them to insinuate that a patient is abusing his wife without any evidence?

A position that allows them to ignore me and what's written in my medical record, and prescribe something that would have put me in a state of anaphylactic shock?

Angela, if a nurse wants to be "just like a doctor", then why doesn't he or she just become a doctor?

And when they become (just like) a doctor, why in Hippocrates' name don't they become (just like) a caring and conscientious doctor?

If the doctor was smarter and more knowledgeable, yes. I have had to see plenty of PAs and NPs and the majority aren't that smart and I'm not impressed by them.

There were a couple that I was impressed by, though.

One of the nurses at work is in the nurse practitioner program and he had thought about being a doctor instead but the way the two are studied he said you'd pretty much have to start from the beginning and then you'd have your internship and then your residency. And if you specialized it would be more on top of that. It's kind of set up that whichever one you pick you stay with. Doctors learn a totally different way than nurses. They are not as patient oriented. I gotta say that I haven't had the best of luck with doctors myself.

Doctors should be patient oriented especially GPs and Consultants. heck even surgeons should be patient orientated.

Maybe they aren't getting enough training. Some of that training has to be on the job. They might some time in another country, as charity

My favorite doctor is the neurosurgeon Henry Marsh. He has such a great bedside manner but no BS, and has done a lot of work in improve training in the former soviet union.

Indeed. In the United States, at least, patients are legally considered to be the determinant partner in their health care. In other words, the physicians must comply with the patients' wishes so far as applicable laws allow. Most physicians not only forget this fact, they are frequently never taught about it.

There was a period in the 80s in certain countries where C-Sections were in. They were encouraging women to get them even though it was not warranted. My mother was one of those, she refused. This was in south Africa.

The doctor is well known for offering IVF to older women e.g 50-60 years. I think IVF has it is place, but sometimes what the women needs is emotional help.

I think it is a bit more complicated than that though. Doctors shouldn't be forced into doing something that they think is medically unethical. That includes elective procedures, but also procedures they don't but don't think is appropriate for that patient at that time, based on their medical and scientific knowledge (or indeed lack of).

Yes doctors are not good.

Indeed. I missed including the ability for physicians to opt out of certain health care with which they might disagree. Of course, in my opinion, that should benefit physicians in private practice. Government-employed physicians probably should comply with their patients' wishes unless there is a lawful reason to decline.

When my health-care provider (Kaiser-Permanente) foists me off on a nurse-practitioner, I know that somewhere, some bean-counting bureaucrat has decided that I am not important enough to be seen by a real doctor.

It is an insult.

In my experience, many primary care doctors are complete idiots and really don't know much at all besides some basic things you could learn online. Now, specialists on the other hand are a very different story. Most specialists I've seen know what they're talking about. I'm glad I no longer need a referral to see a specialist. I just skip my primary doctor completely now, unless I want to call and ask for something like prescription anti-histamines that they'll send me without me havign to even go in.

My advice would be to see specialists and skip primary care doctors as much as possible.

i would prefer a doctor

i dont think nurse practitioners have enough knowledge and trained analytical skills for me to trust them solely with my health

If rather have a CRNP than an osteopath.

There were nurse practicioners here before Obama was in office. It's a rural county with only two MDs for 7,000 residents.The nurses fill in the gaps.Some are good,some aren't.One was a dud for sure,she thought I had gout,did the test for uric acid and it was perfect.I went back,saw the MD.It was tendinitis.She also missed a broken rib my daughter had.Said it was a pulled muscle,when my daughter went to a MD he found the broken rib.That nurse isn't there anymore,they got shed of her.
If you need an appt with the MD,it takes a month to see him.But you can get in right away to see the nurse.
If it's an emergency you can alway do a walk in.You may have to wait a few hours but they always get to you.
It's always been this way here,Obama has nothing to do with it.
It's more about the money,if you want to practice medicine and make a bundle you don't do it in poor rural areas.Most people are on Medicaid or Medicare.
The docs that practice here don't get rich,they do it becuse they are decent human beings that care.Helping is more important than driving a BMW.You should just see what my doc drives.lol Some ancient car with a purple paint job.

What's difference between nurse practitioner and RN

I've only ever seen doctors.even when I go to the after hours.

They can write prescriptions.