Quote:
Originally Posted by PugMom
i find sometimes the pa knows just as much, if not a bit more than the actual dr. op needs to get to know their pa, it's the common link between dr & patient
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If your PA knows as much or more than the "actual dr" you need to find a new doctor. There is nothing similar in the intensity of training. The actual doctor, if this means a board certified medical physician did four years of college then four years of medical school. Two years were basic medical science, learning human anatomy, pathology, microbiology, embryology, physiology etc, then two full years of hospital/ambulatory patient exposure for far greater than the 8 hr work day. Then three to seven or more years of intensive training in a field.
Your nurse practitioner did an undergrad nursing program then a two year nursing master program. Several of these programs have elected to grant their graduates a doctor of nursing degree. Be careful. The health care person being introduced as Dr. Smith may be a nurse. Nothing changed in the program except the title being bestowed. Much of the advanced training is focused on nursing issues, designing nursing plans etc. There is a requirement of clinical time which is less than one year of patient interaction. The link above says 500 hrs of clinical. That should frighten you.
Do you want to see a doctor who spent 3 months learning patient care? Just 3 months.
The PA program has a 2000 hr requirement. That is one year at 40 hr/wk. Now your "actual doctor" spent at a minimum five years learning clinical medicine and their week was longer than 40/wk. So if you believe your PA knows more clinical medicine than the doctor, something is very wrong with the training of your doctor.