Reply #169: I would hope not. But please don't say the degrees are equivalent.

[mainer]

I hear too many claiming that an NP's education is as good as an MD, so they should have the same rights to hang a shingle and prescribe meds. Or that nurses make fewer mistakes than doctors. Or that NPs should be paid the same as MDs because they perform the same work. Or that nurses are superior to MDs because MDs are arrogant. Arrogance does not = incompetence.

NPs have an important role in caring for patients. But if a nurse wants to do the work of an MD, I suggest going to medical school. Because a PhD is not the same thing.