WHY CHOOSE A PSYCHIATRIST rather than
A Nurse Practitioner
WHY CHOOSE A PSYCHIATRIST rather than
A Nurse Practitioner
Many outpatient mental health clinicians are not physicians but advanced practice nurses--Nurse Practitioner (NP). Many of them have done an extra research project, giving them the title “Doctor of Nurse Practitioner”--DNP. In that case they call themselves “DOCTOR.” However, they are not physicians. They are “doctor” the way people with PhD’s call themselves “doctor.” Psychiatrists are physicians, MD’s who have gone to 4 years of medical school, 4 years of residency, and may have additional subspeciality training after that.
The difference in training between Nurse Practitioners (NP, DNP) and MD Physicians like psychiatrists is considerable as illustrated below: