[Martina]

I couldn't get an appointment with my new doctor until June, and I have to see that doctor before they will give me a referral to the psychiatric nurse in July. Assuming she'll even let me in then.

I don't have a medical "doctor," but a wonderful woman who is a PA (Physician's Assistant). She works just like a regular doctor, and can prescribe medication. She prescribed me antibiotics before.

She does know my mental illness diagnoses and what medications I'm on -it's all in my chart.

She does a great job at things like annual exams and regular checkups. She even remembered me when I hadn't seen her for an entire year, and complimented me on my weight loss (without looking at the chart to see the numbers).

So.....anyway......would you trust a medical PA to know what the heck they're doing with psychiatric medications?

I'm going to need a couple new scrips before June and I'm really not in the mood to go back to my psych nurse, although she said she would handle refills until I get to the new person.

The time I went to an MD for meds because I couldn't get into anyone else, he prescribed antidepressants even after I pretty much told him I was Bipolar. And of course, I went manic...

[splitimage]

If you're stable on your meds and aren't trying to make any changes and just need scripts written then I see no reason not to trust the PA to do it. My moto is, never fire one provider until you have you've actually seen the person taking over your care.

--splitimage

[krisakira]

I actually like PA's more than the psychiatrists, because from my experience they are much nicer, and less likely to be foreign and hard to understand. the Psy's get the big bucks and often don't care as much about the patient, whereas a PA becomes a PA because they really do care about the patients, not just the money, otherwise they would become psychs.

[dillpickle1983]

For about a 6 month period, I only talked with an ARNP. I believe its a RN Practitioner... He was really good, and I almost never saw my real doctor.

[Jerrypharmstudent]

Originally Posted by Martina

I couldn't get an appointment with my new doctor until June, and I have to see that doctor before they will give me a referral to the psychiatric nurse in July. Assuming she'll even let me in then.

I don't have a medical "doctor," but a wonderful woman who is a PA (Physician's Assistant). She works just like a regular doctor, and can prescribe medication. She prescribed me antibiotics before.

She does know my mental illness diagnoses and what medications I'm on -it's all in my chart.

She does a great job at things like annual exams and regular checkups. She even remembered me when I hadn't seen her for an entire year, and complimented me on my weight loss (without looking at the chart to see the numbers).

So.....anyway......would you trust a medical PA to know what the heck they're doing with psychiatric medications?

I'm going to need a couple new scrips before June and I'm really not in the mood to go back to my psych nurse, although she said she would handle refills until I get to the new person.

The time I went to an MD for meds because I couldn't get into anyone else, he prescribed antidepressants even after I pretty much told him I was Bipolar. And of course, I went manic...

I would agree with some of the other posters: I see no problem with having your PA write scripts you may need until you get in to see this psych nurse. PA's are always overseen by an MD or DO - so I'm sure if your PA encountered an area where she was uncomfortable or felt ill-informed about certain psych meds that she'd refer to her supervising MD.

Jerry

[salukigirl]

Personally I like working with PAs more than "real" doctors. They seem less busy and more willing to listen to me. I was prescribed Lexapro from my PA and it works better than any other med any psych has ever prescribed me. Plus, they did the work to get to that position. And if you have any questions, just ask! I'm sure they understand concerns that come from not having an "MD" at the end of their name. Really, it's just a title. They can do the same things, prescribe the same meds etc....

[online user]

By all means, see the PA. As Jerry said, they are overseen by a doctor, and you are primarily interested in refills at this time, anyway.

My family practice doctor works with a PA. We can be seen by the PA almost anytime on a "come in right away" basis. It's great for minor stuff that you need a script for (antibiotics for a sore throat) or muscle pull that you want to go to PT for, etc.

And my knee surgeon has one too--but that PA was working as an orthopedic resident at the hospital on Saturday when I was picking hubby up after his latest heart caths and stents. I called my doc as I had a 4" section of my knee incision filled with dried blood when I woke up that AM. He said go downstairs to ER--I know a resident working today and I'll have him take care of you. It was his PA, so apparently he is studying to be a doc now! And the knee: after careful cleaning, he discovered a very tiny scratch right next to the incision. Apparently one of my kittens had scratched me and I didn't notice it was bleeding. It bled right into the incision area! The PA glued me back together and it healed nicely.