Quick access to medical care

Do you see the nurse or the doctor (or the physician's assistant)? Back in the good old days, you went to the doctor and saw the doctor. A nurse might come in and take your vitals, bandage something up, or some other task that was below the doctor's capabilities. They were doctors and didn't do the basic stuff that would take away from their schedule.

Now you may see the doctor, the nurse, the nurse practitioner, or a physician's assistant or even someone else.... Does it make a difference? Not really. They all give out prescriptions, send you for tests, and diagnose and treat you. They all talk to each other if there are any questions.

Back when I was young and athletic in the 80's and 90's, I used to go skiing with Club Med in Colorado (an awesome vacation every year for seven years). One year, I was put in a group of skiers which included several doctors, a nurse, a few others, and me. It snowed overnight so we went skiing in the back bowls to enjoy the fresh powder. This entailed a hike up over a ridge in loose snow at about 14,000 feet (gasping for breath), over the head wall singly, and reconnect as a group with the instructor last to clean up any debris (skis, poles, hats, gloves, etc) to ski down for a mile or two, take another lift back up to ski down the front side of the mountain.

All went as planned. Each of us went over the head wall and into the loose powder (and you say 'why is she telling this story' - be quiet there is a point here) and across the flats. Last came the instructor, schussing across the flats, until his ski hit a rock just under a thin layer of powder where the wind had blown off the other foot or so of snow. He did your basic rolling fall with equipment going everywhere (similarly to 'the agony of defeat'). We started back to help pick up everything and give him a lot of sass for it.

All jokes ended when we saw the blood pouring out of his face. In a rather inaccessible place in the mountains, he caught a ski pole in his face and ended up with an 'Al Pacino Scarface' injury. The doctors stood and gaped and said they hadn't seen anything like that since internship. The nurse ran to his side and started yelling for clean tissues, napkins, bandanas, anything to apply pressure and stop the bleeding. The nurse knew what to do. She fixed him up and rode the chairlift back up with him and went with him to the clinic where he got five stitches in his face. The doctors went to lunch.

So on that sunny day on a ski slope on the backside of a mountain in Colorado, the nurse was the winner.

Now when I go to see my PCP or oncologist, I often see a nurse practitioner. When I see my pain doctor, sometimes I see his physician's assistant. Its not that big a deal. Particularly with my PCP, if I have a new ailment and need a visit as soon as possible, I'll get one of the nurse practitioners. I could wait a week before seeing my PCP or see the nurse practitioner. I'm happy with the sooner visit.

Think of this as well. Do you remember going to the dentist and the dentist cleaned your teeth? Now a hygienist cleans your teeth and a dentist does fillings and other nasty things with drills and pointy things. When I go to the eye doctor a technician checks my vision and glasses prescription and the ophthalmologist checks my corneas.

All this is for quicker medical care and more use of specialized training in different parts of the medical world. I'm all for it - I want the quicker access to medical care.