Undecided about NP vs. Physician? And what about the drama? 😰
A friend halfway through NP school called me in a frenzy this weekend. The first question they expressed was, “When do I get to the good stuff? Learning about diseases and illness and medicine? I am halfway through the program, and theres so much more I need to know. Am I making the right choice? Should I get a post-bacc and go into medicine instead?”.
As I listened, they continued on about their desire for more intense sciences, a deeper understanding of pathophysiology, more exposure to an array of illness. My answer to them?
Stop the program. Start the prerequisites. Apply to medical school. Medicine was the dream. Being a Nurse Practitioner may not satisfy that.
Their next question, “Do you love your job? You seem happy. Are you happy?” My answer?
Yes, of course I am happy. I wanted to be a Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner, and here I am.
I know this is a controversial topic. This is based on my experience having trained at the #1 nursing program in my speciality.
One of my NP professors said to me, “Physicians are trained to practice medicine. Nurses are trained to practice nursing.” I liken the nurse practitioner experience to an intersection of social sciences and the medical model.
NP school trains you to assess patients with a holistic gaze, with intervention focusing on the person and their disease experience first while considering the disease itself. This is a varied approach from the illness focused medical model. Which is better? The answer is — you can’t compare! These are two different forms of practice, and each meets a patient’s need in different ways. BOTH approaches are needed to provide adequate care to our patients in this era of healthcare.
I will be honest when I say that my first year as a palliative care NP, I felt like an internal medicine resident in terms of scientific understanding, but ahead of some of the attendings in terms of holistic understanding. There was so much I did not know scientifically, but the basic skills all nurses have (thinking critically & learning quickly!) helped my medical knowledge increase exponentially. The excellent attendings I work with were happy to help me learn, and I’ve gained so much insight into disease processes in the worlds of pulmonary critical care, hematology, cardiology, etc. etc. etc. seeing consults all over the hospital. Everyday I learn something new.
I work on a team equally divided between NPs and physicians. We each respect our skill sets and recognize the value one another brings to the team. There are consults I pull my physician colleague into where I believe a strong scientific approach is needed, and there are consults that they pull me into where they believe a strong holistic approach is needed. We help each other in the opposite ways as well, it’s all about a second set of eyes with a different perspective. We do not cut each other down, attack each other’s form of schooling, or critique each other’s practices. We practice independently together. No one is beneath another because we are in our own lanes.
If you want to be a nurse practitioner, be a nurse practitioner. You will learn to be a phenomenal clinician, and to provide enriching care to the lives of your patients. If your dream is to be a physician, being a nurse practitioner may not satisfy you. Do not go to NP school expecting to learn how to become a physician. And do not expect to have learned everything you need to know by the end of your training.
There is nothing worse than the grouchy NP spouting statistics about how NPs are better than physicians, or the bitter physician spouting the reverse. This is rooted in disrespect and an unwillingness to understand the strength another brings to the team, on both sides. Despite our differing backgrounds, if you put my treatment plans side by side with one of our physicians, it will likely say the same thing. We come to the same conclusions, it’s just a difference in approach. It’s all about mutual respect, and all about the patient.
