I've been so spoiled by excellent physicians that I am wary of NP's, but I completely realize that my feelings are based on absolutely nothing but my own preference for my wonderful doctors.

I suspect, as in all things medical, there are good and bad. You just have to be able to distinguish which type you have gotten matched up with.

We have doctors who have not qualms about spending literally hours with us if that is what it takes, so I can't imagine that a NP would be able to do more than that. We have doctors who really listen to us and talk to us and collaborate with us, so I can't imagine that a NP would be able to do more than that. We have doctors who are able to admit when they have no clear idea what is going on with us, but they tell us their suspicions in order of probability and work from there (I respect that), so I can't imagine that a NP would be able to do more than that.

I guess what I'm saying is those would be the qualities I have learned to expect from my care providers, so I would be looking for those same qualities regardless of the degree.

In our family though, we do have some incredibly complicated health matters that a NP would have to defer to a physician anyway, so I'd much rather cut out the middle man and deal with the physician one-on-one. The rare times that we've had no choice but to see a NP because it was an emergency and short notice, for instance, she ended up going to our doctor anyway to get his input and recommendations so it was kind of silly.

Yes, I prefer to work with physicians, but I suspect there are some excellent NP's who have excellent bedside manner compared to some of the doctors I hear about.