I have noticed over the past decade or so the rise in Nurse practitioners (NP) as opposed to Physicians’ assistants (PA) and both as doctor shortages have abounded over the past 3-4 decades.

As an thinker I have also noticed over the past couple of decades that PAs and NPs use their reasoning skills and are more humble and willing to discuss issues than most Doctors.

I started noticing the combustion of arrogance and incompetence among a growing number of especially the older doctors. Many of them seem to think the patients are inanimate beings like robots and they, as the certified mechanics, can repair us by following their checklists that were agreed upon a hundred years ago. They simply follow their “if..., then..., else...” checklists for a couple of minutes and make a snap decision and issue their “doctor’s orders”. Then they can collect their money and move in to the next broken patient.

When I started questioning the “doctor’s orders” that were counter-intuitive, the doctors would get irritated and bark back with more nonsense. They were shocked and incensed when I would disagree with their assessments or their “orders” and refuse that particular treatment plan. I would need to remind them that it was my body and I was paying them to give me the benefit of their many years of training in order for me to determine what I wanted to do to resolve the issue and I would hire whomever I believed was the most qualified and trustworthy to complete the procedure. I found no need to remind PAs or NPs of this fact. They seemed to know this intuitively. That’s why I recently changed my PCM from a doctor to a NP. The doctor may still get some money out of the deal, but I get better treatment and don’t have to fight an arrogant buffoon who just wants more money.

I have reminded my wife and grown children (including my daughter with the BS RN) that medical professionals work for the patients, not the other way around. (We are not their lab rats.) It would behoove us all to remember this.

Disclaimer: Not all “older” doctors are bad actors. They have experience on their side and this has the potential of making them better doctors. Even young doctors can have the same faults with little experience to back it. However, far too many let their position, training and experience go to their heads and start to believe they are some kind of higher being. They forget that not all practice makes perfect. Practicing how to do it wrong only makes you more likely to do it wrong with ease. Too often their choices have far less to do with what is best for the patient and more to do with what is most expedient for the doctor.