If you or your child were sick and were assigned to see a nurse practitioner instead of a physician, would you hesitate?
As a medical student in Cleveland, John was diagnosed with skin lymphoma, a rare form of cancer. He was terrified partly thanks to the word “cancer” but mainly by the uncertainty of his prognosis.
Soon after his diagnosis, he moved to Boston for his residency training at Harvard Medical School. His dermatologist devised a treatment plan and promptly referred him to a nurse practitioner named Marianne, who practiced within a physician-led team. He initially wondered whether he should switch to only seeing physicians, but those thoughts were fleeting: Marianne provided excellent and compassionate care, making him feel perfectly at ease while also paying close attention to the details of his case. Under the care of his medical team and Marianne’s watchful eye, John started to get better.
As it turns out, John’s experience having a nurse practitioner as his primary point of contact may become less and less unique—particularly for veterans.
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