This thread is about primary care. I would not see an NP for specialties. Primary care is really more of a gatekeeper these days, and for me a good NP is fine.
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Being exceptional at diagnosis seems like a highly important skill for emergency medicine, as well as primary care.
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As a specialist you cant imagine how many times I have to refer self referred people back to their primary care doctor. Being an excellent diagnostician is so important for primary care.
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Of course she is. Sheâs your daughter!! 
⊠Just having some fun. I am sure sheâs fantastic.
She is. But sheâs also been voted best EM doc by her peers several timesâso itâs not just my opinion.
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What an honor. Bet it is helpful to have a gifted diagnostician in the family.
Iâd say no and would be happy to see a NP/PA for ordinary ailments. But the thread is about primary care and I have the hope, perhaps misguided, that my primary care doctor is for more than just routine treatment. As I age things start piling up, I certainly saw it happen to my parents. I hope my PCP will be a quarterback and advisor looking at the bigger picture of what makes sense in terms of risks and treatments.
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Thatâs exactly what my PCP does. And if I canât find a specialist (e.g., dermatologist) in her network offering an appointment in less than a year, she knows plenty of specialists who work elsewhere.
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Well, we are adding an MD geriatrician to Hâs team and hopefully she will help us sort all Hâs issues and be our coach. We have seen more MDs this y sr than over the many years up to now. 1st appt will be 2 hours and future appts are an hour long.
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Of course your PCP is often for more than ordinary treatment. But donât we call on our PCP also for run of the mill ailments??
Also to the thread in general, PCP = âprimary care providerâ - an NP or PA IS a medical âproviderâ. So maybe we need to or want to distinguish between a PCP and a primary care doctor.
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Iâve done PCP or the associated urgent care (very easy to book online appointment). With my most recent long-lasting cold/sinus infection, I opted to book urgent care slot without even checking if PCP had availabilty. Made my decision at 8am, booked an 8:40am appt. Saw a PA who was very helpful, able to write presciptions.
Delete. Wrong thread
I do think with the abundance of urgent care locations that are conveniently located, people are more likely to go there for things they used to go to their PCP for. We have used them for UTI, cough, rash, twisted ankle, etc. The best ones are in medical buildings where they can access the lab quickly ( get xray or urine or blood test, etc.). Our last urgent care visits we were seen by NP or PA (not MD).
I think that the shortage of PCPs, the emergence of telehealth, and the increased number of urgent care facilities, has changed the role of the PCP.
What I like about my urgent care: even though it is now in a different location, all the records and online access is at same organization/website
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My current PCP is an NP and is by far the best PCP Iâve ever had. She was recommended by an MD friend. Iâve also been warned off certain NPs by the same MD friend. I think it depends on the individual. PAs donât seem to be a thing in my area, except orthopedics.
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A few years ago I was at a presentation by a biology professor from a small local college. All of her female biology majors were going on to PA school. They felt it was an economical way to be in the medical profession.
BTW - I have a friend whose son recently graduated PA school. PA school admission is very competitive. He had to have many EMT hours as a requirement.
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My S does not have a PCP because he couldnât get into one for at least a year, and now his insurance has changed & the PCP is no longer in his network. He has just gone to urgent care with any issues - he doesnât really have an alternative. He lives in a part of the state that has fewer providers than we have in our area, and being in an HMO through his employer further limits his options. Itâs pretty frustrating.
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As an âold schoolâ NP who went to a brick and mortar NP program 20 years ago (and after approximately 10 years of ER / cardiac nursing experience prior to applying to NP school), I avoid the for-profit online NP grads like the plague. I also avoid new grad NPâs who have never worked as a nurse. The NP programs used to not allow RNâs in without at least two years of full-time nursing experience when I went through my NP program.
Even though there are people who will argue that NPâs donât need any nursing experience because the role is very different from being an RN, I strongly disagree. The role was developed with the expert nurse in mind, and looked to build off of that critical foundation.
Iâve got to be honest, as a new NP it was my ER nursing experience that I fell back upon to help guide my decision making with regards to treating my own patients. It helped me to know what I didnât know, and I could always depend on that sixth sense I developed with my years of nursing experience.
That being said, I have encouraged my own dd to go the PA route.
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The ARNP and PAs in my plasticsâ office all seem to have the appropriate undergrad nursing and bio degrees from good universities. I canât imagine not doing some nursing and a BSN before going for an advanced degree as an ARNP.
Getting ordinary wound care from the PA or ARNP seemed better than tying up the micro-surgeon; itâs difficult enough getting appointments.
My NP/PCP is, as others have said, basically a gatekeeper to specialists. If I complain about something, off to a specialist I go. I say Iâm dizzy, off to a cardiologist for tests. Two days ago I sent in a message about hand pain (and explained about a condition) and asked if I needed to see her first. âWell you can if you want to or I can send a referral to a hand specialist.â Knowing how this was going to end, I did make an appt to see her anyway (same day) and her first words were âYouâre going to have to see a specialist.â It was good that I went as she upped some of my pain medication, told me to wear a splint, and actually gave me some more info. But basically a waste of time as I could have just gone to the hand specialist.
My biggest complaint is that she prescribes too much medicine IMO. I fight her on it and sometimes she cuts it in half (or I do). I say I want to see an endocrinologist and she says thatâs her job. She does seem to know a lot about drugs, but so does the pharmacist.
And my second complaint, and this would be true if she were an MD or DO or receptionist at this practice, is that I have to log onto their system to have any contact with her at all. We used to be able to send a text but no more, everything has to go through the ânewâ and (not) improved website, and it is a PITA and I hate it and may change providers just because I hate it that much. For example, today I had to log on to get the web page to apply for a drug program and then I went to the manufacturer and started to fill out the application and it asked for PCPâs email. Had to go back to the practice webpage and it wasnât there, so had to send a message, which by the time they got back to me the manufacturerâs application had timed out and I had to restart it, like 4 times! Can I know the email? Oh no, they gave me the email for the guy who is working with the manufacturer. Then tonight I happened to log on again to see if that went through and saw the âcare planâ (not in the message section) that the referral to the hand specialist had been sent, and that I was supposed to call them, when Iâd been told theyâd call me. If I hadnât seen that Iâd have waited weeks. There is no follow up, there is no notification system.
I hate this system. It doesnât send me an email to check for new messages or to-do things.
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