Can I just ask an honest question guys, I don't mean to derail but I really feel like I'm missing something. The majority of midlevels I have met function similarly to a family medicine doc. I understand midlevels aren't as knowledgeable, but the only thing my family medicine doc ever did for me was give me Zpack's when I got a cold. When I sprained my ankle he sent me to ortho. When I had migraines he gave me a prescription told me to come back in a week, when it didn't work he sent me to a neurologist. When I had stomach cramps I was shipped off to GI. It seemed like anything that had even the slightest potential to be bad, I was sent off to a specialist anyways.
When I was a scribe, we constantly got patients who were told to come to the ED by their NP/PA because the patient came into the office with a symptom that the PA/NP was not 100% sure how to approach and just wanted to have them double checked. Yes, it was annoying because the purpose of the ED is not to be the 24 hour family medicine office, but the few that I have spoken with seem to know their limitations.
So I know I've never stepped foot into medical school and I'll probably look back at this post 6 years from now and want to kick myself lol but I honestly don't understand why everyone has such a beef against them.
I also don't understand why everyone complains that they're "taking our jobs". It is well known that there is a primary care physician shortage. Sounds more like they're helping out to me?