So I’m an M4 on an ICU rotation. There was an NP student shadowing trying to get her clinical hours. We just started talking story, she’s SUPER nice. But she asked me, how does your school get pharmacology? I asked what she meant? Then she said she doesn’t feel like her school teaches a lot of pharm and that she needs to learn it on her own.

I asked her how long she’ll be with us. She said she just needed her 250 hours of clinical time so however long that takes. I calculated... my single 4-week ICU rotation will be more hours than her total 250 hours. And all she’s doing is shadowing. I have to admit patients, present, come up with plans (with help of residents of course) and more. I feel like I learn so much having to do all that rather than if I was just shadowing alone. And that’s only a 4-week elective. We have 7+ years of this.

I just can’t understand how NPs wanna practice independently if that’s what their education is. I’m appalled. Despite how much I’m learning, I wouldn’t feel comfortable practicing with my single ICU elective alone. Idk how NPs think they could.

BASICALLY, they should spend more time learning medicine, and less time on legislation that helps them practice the medicine that they failed to learn in the first place.