Have you had to seek medical care for some ordinary problem recently? Perhaps a sprained ankle, indigestion or sinusitis? Chances are you never saw your physician at all. More likely than not, your diagnosis and treatment started and ended with a nurse practitioner or physician assistant.

The nurse practitioner is a licensed nurse with more advanced training and two to four years of experience. The physician assistant has the equivalent of master's level education and often 3,000 hours experience with direct patient contact. They are both nationally certified and state licensed. Together, they play a critical role in providing medical services. Their education is shorter than that of physicians, they are paid less, they charge less, and they are fully competent in their limited scope of services. They fill the gap between the frontline nurse or medical assistant and the physician.