DNP vs MD

Specialties Doctoral

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What is the difference between DNP and MD? How long does it take to become a DNP if you already have BSN degree? I thought nurses had problems with docs, but one day I visited the student doctor website and I was surprised to see how many student docs, docs, pharmacists were against the DNP program/degree and some did not have any respect for nurses. Many had horrible things to say about nursing and nurses, they said it's easy to become a nurse and not a lot of training is required. One person said, "lets face it, doctors can survive without nurses and they can have a resident do what nurses do, but if the hospital takes the doctors out the nurses will struggle and the hospital will die."

Do doctors forget that nurses are the largest group of healthcare? Doctors are never there to see the condition of their patients, they don't know if the meds are doing what they are supposed to do. Nurses are the ones that know the patients better and they let the docs know what is going on.

Some said," if nurses want to be called doctors they should go to medical school and not attending a new program DNP. To be a doctor they need more years of school." I swear some people think that years of school predict intelligence, years of school make you a better nurse, doctor, etc. Really, what's the difference in school years between DNP and MD ?

It's becoming a big war b/w nurses and doctors. Let's face it, one can't work without the other. They both need each others help.

Is this even a serious discussion? There is a huge difference between DNP and MD. I am a little embarrassed for anyone who would even assume they are even close in position. An MD has 4 years of undergraduate work, 4 years of medical school followed by residency (depending on specialty) that can last 4-8 years (also depending on specialty and fellowship) So you are looking at anywhere from 10-12 years at minimum of post high school education and countless more hours bedside and on call. I am proud of my DNP but honestly it does not even slightly compare to the hours my husband spent working towards his medical degree. Be proud of your accomplishment and stop comparing to others.

While there are a lot of bs online classes, those degrees don't allow the same rights as valid, accredited, esteemed DNP programs. The DNP programs I'm looking at are 5 years with the last two as a residency, which is pretty comparable to an MD education, especially permitted that the majority of DNP students are working as RNs while the majority of med students have never experienced hospital life outside of educational settings and enter their intern years as deer in the headlights.

I do agree that many will not have substantial hospital experiences compared to an RN, but their knowledge base are there and they will quickly learn the flow of things.

Before you accept that any DNP program is comparable to a MD program please do a side:side of the courses. I also don't believe a majority of DNP students have ever practiced as a RN any longer.

Would you post the schools you have researched? If in fact they are offering a 2 year residency that would be an exceptional set up. There are many nurses here looking for a comprehensive education although I suspect the "residency" is actually "clinical hours" which is code word for working on a term paper as in 100% of the schools I investigated for my DNP.

I would love to hear about these so-called 2 year "residencies" and who pays for all this. I also got very turned off to the DNP when I tried to pin anyone down about what the "clinical hours" were really supposed to be. Immersion, or some other BS word. No patient care or contact. Huh? It didn't sound right, it sounded downright embarrassing. Thankfully, I am old enough not to have to worry about it.

Specializes in Trauma and Acute Care Surgery.

To be quite frank, the DNP vs MD debate is really a joke; and I mean that in the lightest of ways.

I love nursing and nursing practice- I aspire to earn my DNP in the near future.

However, Nursing and Medicine are in actuality two different tracks.

While our education may overlap, they are not identical and truly do not compare to one another; same goes for Physician Assistants.

Soon, the Physician Assistants will have doctoral programs, and might be called, "DPA" (who knows) - but even though the PAs can say they go to "medical school" their training still lacks compared to the Medical Doctorate.

A doctor is a doctor, is a doctor - all it means is you have achieved higher education. Being a doctor of anything does not deem equivalence to a physician.

I may be a Doctor of Nursing Practice, or a Doctor of Physical Therapy, or even a Doctor of Physician Assistant Practice; but that will never equate to Doctor of Medicine.

Again, I am not bashing any profession - I personally have met a few Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners who EXCEED the knowledge of some of the Physicians I have encountered - but these are just a few.

I think a lot of the physicians feel as if they are being, "cheated" of "their title." All of this time, being a "doctor" meant medical doctor- but now the times have changed and EVERYONE is getting a doctoral degree; and there's nothing wrong with that.

I think that the evolving field of healthcare needs to adjust to these changes and everyone should introduce themselves by their title, for example:

"Hi, I'm Dr. Max, I am one of the Physicians in this hospital."

or

"Hi, I'm Dr. Joe, I am one of the Nurse Practitioners in this hospital."

Besides all of the political ideas regarding titles and names, I really think it is best not to over generalize by saying, "All physicians don't even see the patients" or anything like that- I think that we all are very important team members that deliver care to patients.

Those student doctors or physicians really are inferior if that is what they are posting on that site- not every physician thinks that way.

I think only insecure people are inclined to make such generalizations on both sides of the fence- we really are ONE TEAM and we work together.

Respect goes a long way, I treat the custodians with the same respect I give to the CEO's...

I think being a DNP is an AMAZING achievement, but not everyone with a DNP is knowledgeable and good at what they do; same goes for the MD.

At the end of the day, those letters after our names mean nothing to our patients; it is the care we delivered and how we delivered it that makes all of the difference.

We are ALL huge players of the healthcare team, we work together - there really is no competition (only on those silly forums that insecure people vent on).

Kindly,

MrCleanScrubs

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