NPs vs PCPs

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Would you trust an NP enough to replace your family's PCP with an NP?

  • Yes

    Votes: 12 14.3%

  • No

    Votes: 43 51.2%

  • Only if she was supervised by an MD/DO.

    Votes: 29 34.5%
  • Total voters
    84
Status
Not open for further replies.
replace in what sense? Like eliminating the entire catagory of PCP and replacing it with NP.. No thanks.
 
Van Chowder said:
replace in what sense? Like eliminating the entire catagory of PCP and replacing it with NP.. No thanks.
Click to expand...


As in instead of having your family visit your PCP for check ups, etc you'd go to an NP instead.
 
mmmcdowe said:
Oh come on, this is SDN, I can already tell you that the poll ratio is going to be 9 against to 1 for the NP takeover.

Interestingly enough, 9 to 1 is also the member to troll ratio on SDN.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a wager to me...
 
mmmcdowe said:
Oh come on, this is SDN, I can already tell you that the poll ratio is going to be 9 against to 1 for the NP takeover.

Interestingly enough, 9 to 1 is also the member to troll ratio on SDN.
Click to expand...
:laugh:



Maybe we should poll the families that have NO access to MDs/DO PCPs and only have access to NP PCPs. 🙄


If my kid was sick with a cold, I'd let him see a NP. Hell, Ive seen an NP many times myself. If myself, or my kid, had a myrid of complex health issues, I'd probably want to see an MD.

Thats the beauty of this, they can peacefully coexsist. Most NPs definitly respect MDs, and if they dont, then they are plain silly and do no represent the population of NPs as a whole. Most NPs know they have limitations, most do not try to breach those. Most NPs know they are filling a specific role and would absolutley put Patinet care above thier personal desire to fulfill thier own ego's in trying to treat a Patinet who is out of thier realm.
 
If they are supervised by a MD or DO then yes. But would this not be just like a PA?
 
Only one that I or one of my BFFs can vouch for.
 
I don't understand the hostility towards NPs...maybe because I have nurses but no doctors in my family; or because I've never gone to my PCP for serious treatment. For major accidents (e.g. broken bones) I went straight to the emergency room. Whenever I did go to my PCP, it was to:

a) Get a checkup.
b) Get stitches for a minor cut.
c) Get flu/cough medicine.

Stitching cuts is more of an art than science, and I'd rather have an NP who does it on a daily basis than a doctor who sporadically stitches. Only c) is NP questionable: will he/she obtain the correct diagnosis? IMHO, for common diseases a NP will easily identify it successfully. If you have something else, you're better off seeing an internal medicine doctor anyhow.
 
I always go to NPs when I go to the doctor.

Last time I went to an MD she put me through a series of tests for hepatitis all summer (even though I told her I had the vaccine and I couldn't have caught it from anything), then at the end of all of that travelling and nonsense she came back and told me I was immune. I looked her up online, and what did she do her research on? Hepatitis. Ugh.

Also, I haven't met an OB Gyn who wasn't a jerk if you're not preggers. I've never had that experience with NPs.

I can remember one really awesome doctor in an urgent care clinic about a year ago though!
 
What a dumb thread to post in a forum of future MDs...
 
I think the last time I actually saw a doctor was when I was referred to a dematologist for a bump I had (and still have, because I'm too chicken to have surgery) on the side of my head. That was in 8th grade.
 
Hoody said:
If my kid was sick with a cold, I'd let him see a NP. Hell, Ive seen an NP many times myself. If myself, or my kid, had a myrid of complex health issues, I'd probably want to see an MD.
Click to expand...

This 👍. I thought PCPs were generally supposed to be the people who sign off on more extensive/specific care anyway, so I can't see why an NP couldn't be the person to say, "You need to see this sort of DO or MD" about a specific issue. PCP strikes me specifically as an HMO concept (and kind of a weird one for those of us who seem to find ourselves in a different state every semester. Hooray for PPOs.. in this situation anyway).
 
Last edited:
mvenus929 said:
I think the last time I actually saw a doctor was when I was referred to a dematologist for a bump I had (and still have, because I'm too chicken to have surgery) on the side of my head. That was in 8th grade.
Click to expand...

Is it a big bump :/
 
I don't know about the rest of you, but I was under the impression that the nurse practitioner was intended to be a primary care provider (as a primary care physician extender).
 
The choice will only become close IF NP's complete PhD, take all Steps, complete FM residency ... then one might wonder why not be an MD/DO.

Having said this, NP like every other healthcare professional have a crucial role to play.
 
Bernoull said:
The choice will only become close IF NP's complete PhD, take all Steps, complete FM residency ... then one might wonder why not be an MD/DO.

Having said this, NP like every other healthcare professional have a crucial role to play.
Click to expand...
A PhD is not a clinical doctorate. NPs already have a clinical "doctorate" called the DNP. I put doctorate in quotations because the requirements to get the doctorate degree are riddled with fluff courses and are frankly not very comparable to the amount of work other doctorate level degrees require.
 
Kaushik said:
A PhD is not a clinical doctorate. NPs already have a clinical "doctorate" called the DNP. I put doctorate in quotations because the requirements to get the doctorate degree are riddled with fluff courses and are frankly not very comparable to the amount of work other doctorate level degrees require.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
The ironic thing about NPs wanting to become "equivalent" to PCPs is that the job of a GP/FP is one of the toughest in medicine! Think about it... all other specialists have already had quite a bit of the dirty work done for them. They don't have to worry as much about missing an illness or not referring when they should have. PCPs run that risk every time they send a patient home but they can't simply refer everyone or they're going to lose credibility with their colleagues. Sure, the procedures themselves may be more basic, but PCPs actually need to know more about the entire body and in greater depth about all its systems than do most other specialties. NPs (and PAs) simply don't have that background. While I think a PA or NP under a PCP is one thing, I definitely wouldn't want to be seen by an unsupervised mid-level.
 
apumic said:
GP/FP is one of the toughest in medicine!
Click to expand...
So true. 👍


But they get the least respect....and money.


and most people will agree with your entire statement, but only when we are talking about FP vs NPs and not when we are talking about FP vs Specialty....sad, but true.
 
LuciusVorenus said:
Is it a big bump :/
Click to expand...

You can't see it unless I specifically point it out to you. Even then, it's not really noticeable. Less than the diameter of a dime, and a little thicker. It's apparently some sort of calcification, or something. I didn't pay that much attention to the doctor, probably because I also had about 5 medical students poking at it. When he said it was benign and not cancerous, I sighed in relief and opted not to get surgery. Something about being awake when they messed with the side of my head just freaked me out too much.
 
mvenus929 said:
You can't see it unless I specifically point it out to you. Even then, it's not really noticeable. Less than the diameter of a dime, and a little thicker. It's apparently some sort of calcification, or something. I didn't pay that much attention to the doctor, probably because I also had about 5 medical students poking at it. When he said it was benign and not cancerous, I sighed in relief and opted not to get surgery. Something about being awake when they messed with the side of my head just freaked me out too much.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
LuciusVorenus said:
So went to a teaching hospital I assume? I've been to those, it can get pretty scary. I went for what turned out to be pretty much nothing but just hearing all those students talk about all the horrible things it could indicate was a little unnerving.
Click to expand...
I was under the impression that teaching hospitals were >> other hospitals for the most part? not so much?
 
Would I trust a nurse practitioner to care for me or my family? Absolutely.

For things like colds, rashes, physicals, etc, they are in some ways better than MDs.

They are often not under tremendous time pressure to move on to the next patient, so they tend to spend a lot more time with histories and physicals. This alone can prevent them from missing something that a better trained but rushed MD might overlook.

They also tend to be a lot less arrogant as a whole--which again leads to a better ability to take histories and physicals. Not to say that all or even a substantial number of docs are arrogant. Still, I have met a fair number of arrogant physicians and have yet to have a NP speak down to me.

Would I allow one who had no physician on call to use as a consult when he/she was unsure of something? Not a chance.

Again, I see NPs having a very important role in the modern healthcare system. Replacing physicians? No way.
 
Hoody said:
So true. 👍


But they get the least respect....and money.


and most people will agree with your entire statement, but only when we are talking about FP vs NPs and not when we are talking about FP vs Specialty....sad, but true.
Click to expand...
Not true. I make more than most MD's and all DO's. But these people are *****s.
 
PDtoMD said:
Would I trust a nurse practitioner to care for me or my family? Absolutely.

For things like colds, rashes, physicals, etc, they are in some ways better than MDs.

They are often not under tremendous time pressure to move on to the next patient, so they tend to spend a lot more time with histories and physicals. This alone can prevent them from missing something that a better trained but rushed MD might overlook.

They also tend to be a lot less arrogant as a whole--which again leads to a better ability to take histories and physicals. Not to say that all or even a substantial number of docs are arrogant. Still, I have met a fair number of arrogant physicians and have yet to have a NP speak down to me.

Would I allow one who had no physician on call to use as a consult when he/she was unsure of something? Not a chance.

Again, I see NPs having a very important role in the modern healthcare system. Replacing physicians? No way.
Click to expand...
Much more intelligent. Spend more time. Better sociological perspective. MDs are quite fixated on disease. DO's couldn't cut it as MDs. We win.
 
mvenus929 said:
You can't see it unless I specifically point it out to you. Even then, it's not really noticeable. Less than the diameter of a dime, and a little thicker. It's apparently some sort of calcification, or something. I didn't pay that much attention to the doctor, probably because I also had about 5 medical students poking at it. When he said it was benign and not cancerous, I sighed in relief and opted not to get surgery. Something about being awake when they messed with the side of my head just freaked me out too much.
Click to expand...
Ha, robots will replace you in 5 years.
 
mcloaf said:
You seem very secure.
Click to expand...
You have used some sort of Burt Reynolds avatar, so I am satisfied. You're probably a ***** physician. Enjoy your stupidity and low income.
 
No I am not comfortable resting the decisions about my medical care in the hands of someone who may have gotten their degree online.
 
Lmaooo. Based on this she is a 43 year old woman who was singing a different tune 7 years ago. Oh and she's a 43 year old woman trolling pre-meds
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2017-02-04 at 10.41.25 AM.png
    Screen Shot 2017-02-04 at 10.41.25 AM.png
    206.8 KB · Views: 88
madglee said:
So clever. Pity a robot will diagnose and fix that in the next 5 years. You wasted your life. Go learn how to speak to people you autistic bitch.
Click to expand...

Glad you necro posted on this thread to tell us premeds how smart you are. I reported this post. Enjoy your ban.
 
smurfeyD said:
Lmaooo. Based on this she is a 43 year old woman who was singing a different tune 7 years ago. Oh and she's a 43 year old woman trolling pre-meds
Click to expand...

Why is it that most trolls trying to act "holier than thou" on SDN have an easily accessible history of using SDN to ask for help? Do all trolls not think about using another account before breaking the rules? :laugh:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

F
Scribe vs Medical Assistant
Replies
1
Views
982
LunaOri
LunaOri
eharlc2119
  • Question Question
MA vs. CRC
Replies
5
Views
923
The OTC
The OTC
ptarta
Help NYU vs SBU
Replies
2
Views
644
Rachapkis
Rachapkis
E
Letter Packet vs Interfolio
Replies
2
Views
851
EEqualsRx2
EEqualsRx2
M
Academic Physician Vs. Private Practice
Replies
2
Views
844
polymerization
polymerization
Top