> Let psychologists prescribe common, low-risk psych drugs (instead of scarcer psychiatrists),
What the hell? No, there's no way you want a psychologist to be prescribing medication. They receive absolutely no medical training whatsoever.
If you want psychiatric drugs without going to a psychiatrist, find a GP or NP. They're at least trained to practice medicine, even if they're not specifically trained in psychiatry.
You probably should not get psychiatric drugs from a GP or NP without first being assessed by a psychologist. While GPs have meds training, they aren’t trained in how medication fits into a larger psychological treatment plan to actually address the underlying issue. This is equivalent to demanding OxyContin from your GP for a recurring knee problem, rather than seeing an orthopedist to find out what’s actually wrong.
> You probably should not get psychiatric drugs from a GP or NP without first being assessed by a psychologist. While GPs have meds training, they aren’t trained in how medication fits into a larger psychological treatment plan to actually address the underlying issue.
I'm not telling anyone to do anything, but the idea of going to a psychologist for prescription drugs is beyond ridiculous.
> This is equivalent to demanding OxyContin from your GP for a recurring knee problem
It's worse - it's like demanding Oxycontin from your personal trainer at the gym. At least your GP went to medical school and did residency training.
I think you missed my point. I’m not saying psychologists should prescribe meds. I’m saying that medicating psychological problems should not be done in the absence of an appropriate diagnosis of those problems. This can be done only by a psychiatrist or psychologist (edit: and most psychiatrists aren’t trained in testing either, and will generally refer you to a testing psychologist if they think your problems are complex in nature). GPs and NPs do not have appropriate training in diagnosis.
My wife is a psychiatrist. She doesn't prescribe drugs to people with psychological problems. She prescribes drugs to people with psychiatric problems. She's been trained to know the difference. The PA that works under her has been similarly trained. But he doesn't understand the non-psychiatric medicine part that patients often times have.
What is the difference between a psychological and psychiatric problem? I've never seen these terms used in the same context you used them anywhere in medicine.
There are Mental Health Nurse Practitioners, who can and do prescribe psych meds.
I agree that letting psychologists prescribe meds is problematic due to lack of medical training, even though clinical psychologists have a PhDs or PsyD.
You need a prescription to buy contacts? Weird. In 3 European countries I’m familiar with they are a supermarket item (literally) or anyway simply an over the counter item from pharmacies and opticians’ shops
You can get the same brands of contacts from UK websites shipped to the US very easily (and cheaply). I know a few people who do this and they haven't had any problems yet.
People who have no idea about an industry saying how that industry should be regulated.
The reason we have different professions withing the medical industry is because of the years of training it takes to specialise in that area and get to a level of competency in that field.
Optometrists in the UK already prescribe glasses and contact lenses, I'm not familiar with the US system for glasses prescriptions but having to see more than one person seems... Illogical and expensive.
Nurses already push meds. After a suitably qualified and experienced doctor has assessed the patients records, seen or read a history and decided on a course of treatment. A nurse is not capable and should not be expected to know that level of detail about drug interactions and treatment pathways, that is literally what the doctor is for. Not everyone has the capacity / interest to know all this stuff, but we still need staff to tend to and care for our patients. Hence we have nurses.
Not to be disrespectful to nurses because they do incredible work and are essential to the medical industry and patient care but I happen to know quite a few nurses and doctors through friends and what I've come to realise is that anyone who can follow an instruction can become a nurse. And there are a lot of bad nurses. Thankfully not just anyone can become a doctor in the western world, because we have stringent regulations and laws.
The major contributing factor that adds cost to medicine are patents. Companies artificially inflating the prices of drugs and medical devices, not wages on the front line.
What the hell? No, there's no way you want a psychologist to be prescribing medication. They receive absolutely no medical training whatsoever.
If you want psychiatric drugs without going to a psychiatrist, find a GP or NP. They're at least trained to practice medicine, even if they're not specifically trained in psychiatry.