I was with you right up to the point about competence. If an NP is taught how to do a physical exam by a physician and becomes competent in completing them by experience and such, this is an area where both a physician and NP may well be equally competent. I know that I am better than some docs at hearing heart sounds, b/c I have become experienced and learned and practiced in heart sounds. It takes time and some people are better at it than others. It doesn't mean I am a competent cardiologist though for God's sake. But there are skills and didactic insight and such in which the PA, NP, and physician may or may not be more or less competent.
And there are less competent physicians, where in fact, some NPs or PAs are a sight better--b/c they have expanded their knowledge and just really give a damn to build their level of competence. There indeed are physicians, where, regardless of their education and residency, just aren't that good at what they do and are not competent practitioners. Are they more competent than those experience and continually learned NPs and PAs that do actually give a damn about what they are doing and are bright and committed? No.
Bill made some good points. But some of this stuff is just about a pissing contest, which really isn't a pissing contest, b/c on the whole, physicians have the advantage, hands down. So why all the NP and/or PA hate?
End of the day, it is up to each practitioner to be as competent as possible--from a professional standpoint and from an ethical one.