I have an acquaintance who is a NP. She started out working at a family practice, but now works at an urgent care center. She much prefers the urgent care center, and explained to me why.

At the family practice:

1. She had to work under the supervision of a physician.
2. She had to spend "too much time" talking to the patients.
3. The patients' medical problems were "too complicated."
4. She had to follow up with patients after she treated them.

At the urgent care center:

1. She is in charge.
2. She barely talks to the patients.
3. She is only expected to treat the patients' immediate symptoms.
4. She refers them to their family doctor for follow-up and so never has to see them again.

Obviously, not all NPs feel this way, but I certainly worried after hearing her opinion that this could be the attitude/culture among many in her profession.

So I much prefer seeing doctors for physical/medical issues. Incidentally, my psych med prescriber is an NP and for the most part she is great. I have been less satisfied with her of late as I have been trying to wean off of some meds so I can get pregnant. She just does not have a lot of knowledge about this particular situation. However, I have no idea if that has anything to do with her being an NP and not an MD.