AndersRN

I actually think NP salary is too high for the little education they have. But if the market is willing to pay them that much, I guess it's ok...

@divobari... Good luck holding mediocre students accountable. They are in the majority in NP schools.

Saying that does not make it true... You don't know what you don't know.

@JellyDonut... NP are expert in what? Because you work in a specialty, that does not mean you are an expert in that particular specialty. You guys play with words like they don't mean anything... Physicians like my cousin have been f... before due to some reckless specialty physicians who want to make cheap money. They send NP to take care of consults when these people have no idea about what's going on. Unfortunately, patients needlessly die or deteriorate when these unscrupulous docs do stuff like that... My cousin has learned his lesson, so now he specifically put in his consult orders that NP/PA are not to see his patients for consult and there were a lot docs where i used to work at that do similar stuff...

I am all for foreign docs to do NP here... I welcome that so these diploma mills can disappear when people who graduate from them can't get no jobs... The whole NP stuff has become a scam for the most part in my opinion... I am glad some institutions and physicians are starting to see that.

You should talk to a US med student so you can learn what it takes to even get into med school... Do you know any nurses who have been rejected from NP school. Your education is a joke!

But but but most NP drink the kook-aid...

How come studies show NP outcomes on B/P, DM and hyperlipidemia are equal or better than physicians? That clearly indicates NP know more than physicians ...

Anyone who has a doctorate should introduce themselves as doctor in hospital setting, period! PT/OT/PharmD/DNP/AuD--you guys/gals have earned your degree. Who cares if patients get confused!

Not using my RN license does not mean that I am out of the healthcare industry, and don't interact with healthcare professionals etc... I do on regular basis--even with employers. What say you when some institutions will not hire new grad NP but have no problem hire new grad PA? Some are doing that right now where I live. And I think it's good thing because it might force the profession to start policing themselves. Most of the students you are putting out are not ready to even be taught -- let alone practicing 'medicine' independently...

I don't post any negative comments about NP... I just stated facts about what could have been a good profession, but failed leadership has driven it to the ground. Nothing personal! I have many friends that I went to school with who are NP now, and most of them have admitted that the NP concept is a scam the way it is now. People are coming here asking how to find a preceptor and you think that's ok... You think these people will be ready to practice 'medicine' after they complete their 500-700 hrs following around a stranger... (someone that has no affiliation with their schools). You guys/gals need to start policing your profession because it's already reflecting bad on all of you in the part of the country I am at now.

I was a nurse for almost 8 years... I still have a license, but I have not used it for a little over 2 years now.

I don't know any serious grad degree in the healthcare industry that people can get while working FT. I guess nurses are the smartest group of people in the industry then...

NP school is easy and it's a fact... Are there smart NPs out there? YES!

DMV has fewer spots, but is not as competitive as MD... Let's face it: They don't have to take the MCAT. They only have to take the GRE. Modern IQ ranges for various occupations

I agree with many things you said in your post, but it is what is it right now... Admission to NP school on 'average' is very lax. Of course there are VERY good NP schools... However, NP school has probably the worst admission standard out of all healthcare professions that award grad degree... If I had to rank them, it would be like: MD > DO~DMD/DSS > PA > OD > PharmD > PT > OT > NP. You have students posting here asking help to find preceptors... How is that even freaking possible that these schools are accredited?

Do you want someone with a doctorate in sociology to introduce him/herself as Dr So and So in hospital setting? PharmD and JD don't have an inferiority complex; that might be the reason they don't do it. On the other hand, NP/Chiro would use every opportunity to use the Dr so-and-so-- and leave it up to people to figure out that they are not 'real' doctors i.e. physicians.

I have to see the curriculum of that program to believe that... cause when I was looking to go to NP school, all the programs I researched in my state and neighboring states have a lot of fluff in their curriculum... Even some NP preceptors are starting to complain about the quality of students they are getting. The market will eventually get saturated with all these online programs that are popping up everywhere. The whole profession stands to suffer because of that. Pharmacy is dealing with similar situation even if their admission process is a lot more rigorous than NP admission.

I guest we are talking past each other... I know some PA students don't have science degree, though most PA schools requires bio 1/2, gen chem 1/2, orgo 1/2, biochem and genetics, and some schools require microbiology for admission... All I was saying was that the average PA student that comes out of PA school will have more basic science knowledge than NP. That's an indisputable fact! Regarding my knowledge of basic science, let say I have taken graduate level courses in genetics, biochem, anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, histology, embryology, Immunology, microbiology, neuroanatomy etc... Not sure why my knowledge of basic is relevant to this when one can just look at PA/NP schools curricula and compare them.

My cousin (an internist) who has precepted 100s PA/NP would disagree... I would also disagree with my limited experience. NP don't know [insert] in basic science.

I agree that it might be hard to validate my latter statement, but when a selection process is more rigorous, you are more likely to recruit 'smarter' applicants.

You answer your own question. PA curriculum is better. Let's be honest here: It's different cohort; There are smart NP students, but PA students are smarter on average.

At the end, you will be a doctor and that's the whole purpose of the degree.

I see... But it would be difficult to find someone who got into med school these days without taking Genetics and Biochemistry, which are strongly recommended...

It's one semester of gen chem and orgo. Med school requires 2 semesters of each plus 2 semesters of physics...