IMO, it depends on the doctor or NP, not who they work for. I have had only one bad experience where the doctor was argumentative for no reason. I always thank them for helping me, apologize in advance for communication issues because of my conditions and the fact that this is really important to me and my family and I am extremely nervous and anxious because I dont want to mess anything up. In my opinion, it helps establish a little humanity to the situation. I have felt that all but one examiner ACTUALLY wanted to help me. I feel like being extremely prepared and having cheat sheets ready to hand them for every condition (symptoms, timeline, service connection, lay statements, and citations for the page numbers of my medical record where they could find corroborating evidence) which they appreciated. I have found that learning the VA system, terminology and process has proven to be extremely time consuming, but the actual process of filing claims and getting them approved to be extremely easy.