Not Me......

Sheila,

Good for you, and I would have done the same thing.  I did that when I was getting the next to final stage for my tooth implant.  They wanted to foist me on another dentist, but I wanted the dentist my oral surgeon recommended...Turns out he had bought his own practice...I had to wait a bit, and then had him take care of me.  We both really like him and his staff. /A

Hi Sheila Anderson I have an appointment once a year with the surgeon who did my weight loss surgery.... the second year, the nurse practitioner came in the room rather than the Dr. and did vitals.... then she said she would be meeting with me.... I told her I wanted to meet with the Dr. at this appointment and every one hereafter...or we will not have any more appointments.... I've had a total of 6 and all with the surgeon.... make it a rule.

Sheila- I had that happen once to me and even though I continued to see the NP, I did let them know that I was not happy. Had they asked me if I wouldn't mind seeing the NP it would have been totally different. 

I would do the same if it was me. Whoever comes first should be scheduled first.

I think we are going to be seeing many more nurse practitioners and physician assistants in our future, whether we like it or not.  There simply isn't enough doctors to go around.  However, that being said, I've had really good luck with both nurse practitioners and physician assistants.  They are highly trained, and can usually do just about everything a doctor can do.

Both nurse practitioners and physician assistants are independently licensed providers. They are not doctors, but they take on some roles traditionally taken on by doctors, including making diagnoses and prescribing medication. ... The PA tradition draws more from a medical model.

Sheila, I see why you were upset and applaud you for standing your ground. I just switched primary care physicians. I had been with another practice for 8 years; never met the doctor, always saw the nurse practitioners. But, I knew in advance, and that was fine with me. I often find they spend more time, listen better, ask ask more pertinent questions than a doctor does. That's great when one is healthy.

Morning Sheila.

I can understand your frustration, I probably wouldn't have been as nice.

Do not EVEN GET ME STARTED on the 'ills' of traditional medicine.

The last 2 PCPs I had before rejecting trad medicine entirely and hooking up with a rockstar naturopath were NPs, and I felt that they were both better than the actual doctors. Still, you waited for an appointment with the doctor and you did not get the doctor. That's like in our business, a customer thinks they are getting 'us' and ends up with 'an assistant' . . . there's a perception that 'you're not important enough' . . . 

Hello Sheila - it's really a customer service issue as I see it.  How would "they" feel in the same circumstance?  Unfortunately, it is far too common to see things like this happening because some people simply don't understand their actions create a situation which could have been avoided.  

Oh, that would NOT sit well with me and in fact, we dealt with that when we first returned home from Denver with Ray's urologist. I had to be a bitch about it before they finally realized Ray needed a DOCTOR, not a PA! And, guess what, even the doctor was perplexed and called in another 'expert' to evaluate. The PA had not hinted at ANY of the topice the doctor covered. 

I'm so glad you stood your ground and pushed...and yes, scheduling the FIRST appointment of the day WITH the doctor, typically means you won't be waiting as long as later times on the calendar! Best of luck with your surgery - you know I'll be sending you lots and lots of uplifting, positive thoughts!