Nurse Practitioners
While nurse practitioners are essential and valuable members of physician-led health care teams, their skill set does not match a physician’s training and education. Nurse practitioners total just 500–750 patient-care hours in training. By comparison, physicians have at least 16 times as many patient-care hours. Nurse-practitioner programs generally last two to four years. In contrast, physicians must complete four years of medical school to earn a degree as an MD (a doctor of medicine) or a DO (doctor of osteopathic medicine).
Stay informed about nurse practitioners with content from the AMA.