Some say physician assistants will eventually replace primary care physicians, as they are cheaper and almost act as autonomous providers. However, be aware that their training is 1/3 shorter. It is the minority of patients that present “outside the cookbook” that MDs are paid and trained to treat:
But as a physician, you’re going to be paid for your ability to handle the ten percent of cases that aren’t bread and butter and don’t follow a neat algorithm. Additionally, even the easy patients have the potential to turn difficult. It is in this respect that your knowledge and extra training are going to come into play, managing the cascading complexities of difficult patient.
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It took almost two years to diagnose my weird disease. I’m lucky enough to now be with a specialist who only treats my type of problem. We are working to stabalize me on a new medication. Last time I was there as I was leaving I stopped to set up my next appt. The scheduler said “OH, you want to see the DR instead of his PA?” I must have looked at her like she was crazy. Hell YES I want to see the doctor. Are you KIDDING ME? After everything I went through to find a diagnosis? After everything it took to find a doctor who would look at my problem and say “Yeah I know what that is let’s work on it together”. Hell YES I want to see the doctor.
people want cheap doctors not knowing it is lower quality of care, so let’em have it
the rise of the mid-levels is here to stay
Sometimes you really need to see a doctor, but certainly not always.
Physician Assistants and Advance Practice Nurses can provide excellent care working under supervision or in collaboration with a physician. A well-trained conscientious PA or APN may actually spot something the over-worked, time-stressed physician missed.
Mid-level providers help free up physicians’ time and attention for the patients who need their expertise the most.
There are so many needs in healthcare, let’s not close our minds to looking at new ways to meet them.
In general, if I have a run-of-the-mill illness, e.g. flu, sore throat, etc., I’ll happily see a PA or a physician. If it’s something more serious, I want that extra training on my side and would prefer a physician.
Having said that, I’ll also say that it was an on-the-ball PA who, in aggressively treating and representing her patient (me), sent me back for a second opinion after the the first oncologist she sent me to completly failed to diagnose my burgeoning Hogkin’s Disease (in the presence of pruritis, fever, night sweats and a swollen axillary lymph node).
PA’s have their place. I’m not qualified to say what that place is but, with the increasing load on physicians, they are certainly not going to go away.
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