PCP in NYC

[NYCdadUES]

Can anyone recommend a male PCP in the city? It seems almost impossible especially one that is thorough and not glued to a computer entering data. 
I am willing to consider concierge docs too. 

 

[Marc in Calif]

Your topic title/headline might draw readers for the wrong reason. And it might keep your intended readers away! 😎

PCP, or phencyclidine, is a dangerous drug that was originally developed as an anesthetic. Its use was discontinued in humans in 1965 because of the troubling side effects. It is now illegal in the United States.

Sometimes called: angel dust

Edited August 26, 2023 by Marc in Calif

[LookingAround]

I assumed he meant primary Care provider especially since it’s under “men’s health.” Never occurred to me what you thought of haha. 

Edited September 6, 2023 by LookingAround

[edinbrooklyn]

On 8/10/2023 at 4:49 PM, NYCdadUES said:

Can anyone recommend a male PCP in the city? It seems almost impossible especially one that is thorough and not glued to a computer entering data. 
I am willing to consider concierge docs too. 

 

Acronyms? Why? Just confuses people.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, edinbrooklyn said:

Acronyms? Why? Just confuses people.

Why? Because it's shorter/quicker than typing in "primary care provider," especially for the title of a string--that's why. And it only confuses some people.  

[edinbrooklyn]

Just now, Unicorn said:

Why? Because it's shorter/quicker than typing in "primary care provider," especially for the title of a string--that's why. And it only confuses some people.  

I’ve never heard of it and like the other poster assumed it was a drug reference.

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, edinbrooklyn said:

I’ve never heard of it and like the other poster assumed it was a drug reference.

I see this acronym all of the time in my insurance documents. "Please select your PCP," "please see your PCP for referral," etc. Maybe if you don't have an HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) you won't see it, but I'd have to pay over $3000 a month to have non-HMO insurance. Maybe things are different on the East Coast. And, yes, the fact that this query was posted on the Men's Health forum was a clue. 

[edinbrooklyn]

Slow learner here.

[Marc in Calif]

On 9/6/2023 at 10:45 AM, Unicorn said:

I see this acronym all of the time in my insurance documents.... the fact that this query was posted on the Men's Health forum was a clue.  

There are many types of health plans in the U.S.  Evidently, many of them don't use the initialism PCP. Mine certainly doesn't. 

And in the Men's Health forum, a topic title about the dangers (or availability) of a very common street and club drug in New York City is perfectly logical and expected. There was absolutely NO "clue" that the topic would be about finding a primary care physician. 

Edited September 7, 2023 by Marc in Calif

[pubic_assistance]

Maybe it's my age...but when I see PCP I think drugs.

[Marc in Calif]

2 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

Maybe it's my age...but when I see PCP I think drugs.

Yes -- especially if the title is NOT written like this:

Finding a PCP in NYC

😎

[LookingAround]

This is a well known abbreviation for medical doctor offering general medical care. More well known I dare say than phencyclidine. Not sure why anyone would go to a drug reference before doctor in a Men’s Health forum unless your mind is oriented toward drugs hahaha. Odd. 

[Marc in Calif]

2 hours ago, LookingAround said:

Not sure why anyone would go to a drug reference before doctor in a Men’s Health forum unless your mind is oriented toward drugs hahaha. 

I guess you don't think that potentially dangerous street and club drugs aren't a "health" issue in NYC and elsewhere.

And FYI... there have been many drug-related topics in the Men's Health forum before: medical, recreational, and illegal. 

[+ nycman]

If we can all just untwist our panties over the Angel Dust versus Primary Care Provider drama….does anyone have an answer?

A great gay PCP in NYC shouldn’t be that hard to find. 

Unfortunately, the "cute" ones seem to rely more on their body than on their minds.

[LookingAround]

David Lessman MD

(212) 857-4524

[Guest]

Finally. Someone actually answered the question. 

[Guest]

19 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

...when I see PCP I think drugs.

😄

Do people still do PCP? In my career, I ran through tons of people doing opioids, methamphetamines, and cocaine, but I can't remember anyone doing PCP. I used to hear about it more in the 70s and 80s. 

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---

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Edited September 8, 2023 by Unicorn

[Guest]

19 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

Maybe it's my age...

Something else for which we should be grateful: no one thought about pneumocystis carninii pneumonia. I remember from the 80s and 90s when that bug killed a number of my friends. 😢

[+ purplekow]

21 hours ago, LookingAround said:

This is a well known abbreviation for medical doctor offering general medical care. More well known I dare say than phencyclidine. Not sure why anyone would go to a drug reference before doctor in a Men’s Health forum unless your mind is oriented toward drugs hahaha. Odd. 

In reality PCP is way of naming a primary care provider not a medical doctor.  This abbreviation, to my mind, has diminished doctor, as if they wanted to name a doctor they could have used the abbreviation PMD, Primary Medical Doctor.  PCP suggests equivalency of a Medical Doctor, a Nurse Practitioner, a Physician Assistant and several other professions which have their own niche.  If one chooses to use those non-physicians as a primary care provider that should be a conscious decision but by grouping all of these together it clouds the actual educational qualifications of the person you are selecting.  Granted on most identifying data, a series of initials after the name will give the educational information to those in the know,  However, there are certainly many who do not know the difference among MD FACP, DO, CNP, PA.   Or between a resident and an intern and a fellow.  

Have you been to an emergency room and had the provider introduce themselves by their first name.  

Nowadays, it seems prudent to ask what level of practitioner you are encountering.  I mean, even Dr. Pepper tries to pass himself off as a doctor saying he is a Fizz-ician,.  

Edited September 9, 2023 by purplekow

[Guest]

3 hours ago, purplekow said:

In reality PCP is way of naming a primary care provider not a medical doctor.  This abbreviation, to my mind, has diminished doctor, as if they wanted to name a doctor they could have used the abbreviation PMD, Primary Medical Doctor.  PCP suggests equivalency of a Medical Doctor, a Nurse Practitioner, a Physician Assistant and several other professions which have their own niche.  If one chooses to use those non-physicians as a primary care provider that should be a conscious decision but by grouping all of these together it clouds the actual educational qualifications of the person you are selecting.  Granted on most identifying data, a series of initials after the name will give the educational information to those in the know,  However, there are certainly many who do not know the difference among MD FACP, DO, CNP, PA.   Or between a resident and an intern and a fellow.  

Have you been to an emergency room and had the provider introduce themselves by their first name.  

Nowadays, it seems prudent to ask what level of practitioner you are encountering.  I mean, even Dr. Pepper tries to pass himself off as a doctor saying he is a Fizz-ician,.  

 

[LookingAround]

On 9/8/2023 at 8:08 PM, purplekow said:

In reality PCP is way of naming a primary care provider not a medical doctor.  This abbreviation, to my mind, has diminished doctor, as if they wanted to name a doctor they could have used the abbreviation PMD, Primary Medical Doctor.  PCP suggests equivalency of a Medical Doctor, a Nurse Practitioner, a Physician Assistant and several other professions which have their own niche.  If one chooses to use those non-physicians as a primary care provider that should be a conscious decision but by grouping all of these together it clouds the actual educational qualifications of the person you are selecting.  Granted on most identifying data, a series of initials after the name will give the educational information to those in the know,  However, there are certainly many who do not know the difference among MD FACP, DO, CNP, PA.   Or between a resident and an intern and a fellow.  

Have you been to an emergency room and had the provider introduce themselves by their first name.  

Nowadays, it seems prudent to ask what level of practitioner you are encountering.  I mean, even Dr. Pepper tries to pass himself off as a doctor saying he is a Fizz-ician,.  

PCP on my book refers to Primary Care Physician and is a medical doctor. 

[Guest]

Some PCP's are NP's, and, occasionally PA-C's. I worked with some NP's who were PCP's, and some were better than some physicians, but never as good as the best physicians. I've never seen a PA-C do anything more than urgent care, but I've heard that some do. PA-C's have more basic education, and I wouldn't ever want one as PCP. 

[caramelsub]

8 hours ago, Unicorn said:

Some PCP's are NP's, and, occasionally PA-C's. I worked with some NP's who were PCP's, and some were better than some physicians, but never as good as the best physicians. I've never seen a PA-C do anything more than urgent care, but I've heard that some do. PA-C's have more basic education, and I wouldn't ever want one as PCP. 

Outside of primary care and urgent care, I know of many physician assistants working in orthopedic clinics( though not as surgeons), dermatology clinics, psychiatric clinics, emergency room, and more specialties. Seems like they do more of the minimally invasive medical specialties that don’t involve actual surgery. Pretty much limited to diagnosing and prescribing and minimally invasive in office procedures under the direction of a physician. They are really taking over the medical profession as I am noticing more of them from a patient’s perspective.

Edited September 13, 2023 by caramelsub

[josh282282]

On 9/12/2023 at 6:29 PM, caramelsub said:

They are really taking over the medical profession as I am noticing more of them from a patient’s perspective.

(Primary Care Physician here)

Yes, all around me I am seeing more mid-level providers, too,  (known as PA's, physician assistants & NP's, nurse practitioner).

They absolutely can be a welcome addition to the medical team. I support their inclusion to Medicine. 

But not to EVERYWHERE in Medicine.  

They have their serious limitations. 

I am adamantly opposed to mid-levels working as THE PCP.

 

As an American trained (I'm American) board certified physician who then did a fellowship in HIV Medicine,  that's 8 years. Let's count all my training years because its informative:

4 years of medical  school 

3 years of a primary care residency 

1 year of an HIV fellowship 

= 8 yrs. ( I'm intentionally ignoring my undergrad degree as it is not relevant.  I also am ignoring any Registered Nurse who becomes a Nurse Practitioner who is adding his/her undergrad nursing school of 4 years to their tally of 2 years of training- simply not relevant because nursing is not being a doctor).

Let's add up the years of training a NP or PA gets:

2 years + ...zero = 2 years.

Yes, the mid-level have 1/4 of my training.  Yes, I know, I have an extra year compared to my other physician colleagues who are only boarded in one specialty. Ok, for boarded physicians without a fellowship,  NPs/PA's have 2/7 of their training.  Still a huge difference.  

YET, a NP or PA all over are becoming,  no, they ARE THE PCP, primary  care physician for many.

I reject such lunacy. Keep reading to understand my point.

Ok, let's use the 2/7 ratio and apply it to getting your commercial pilot license & make a hypothetical game for all of us to play:

It takes 1500 hours of flight training to get your commercial pilots license. But let's say we start a new commercial pilots license called the Pilot Assistant (PA) License.  They can get their license with only 2/7 the training of a Commercial Pilot, 428 hours (1500 hrs x 2/7). You are buying a plane ticket to fly from NYC to Los Angeles.  It's a CHEAP fare. Would you buy this ticket?  No, there is only another PA in the cockpit, Pilot Assistant as second in command. So there are no commercial pilots in the plane, just 2 PA's.

If you are like me, I'd say forget that!

It took 7 (8 for me) long, arduous years of training to become a competent Primary Care Physician.  We PCPs know a lot ( but not everything).  There are just oh-so-many diagnoses that I can manage myself,  no Specialist needed. 7 years (8 for me) provided the PCP with freaking tons of practice traing supervised by faculty physicians to learn the craft.

Do I refer a patient to a specialist when it's out of my scope & training? Of course! But that was part of my training- knowing what I should keep & knowing when to refer. NPs & PAs have only 2/7 that type of training.

Guys, the difference in skill & fund of knowledge is VAST. 2/7 does not equal 7.

I know that there are some on this website who may disagree with me. Possibly Unicorn disagrees. And make no mistake,  I really, really like Unicorn.  Hes another physician like me but he puts in his time here. He is always trying to educate the guys on this website,  never gives up, and typically is spot-on! Love him. But, no. Just like I want a fully trained pilot with the FULL amount of training flying my plane, I want a full-fledged MD being the PCP. 

WHY is this happening?

Money.

NPs cost HALF of an MD. Years ago, corporate clinics/organizations started hiring NPs & it just skyrocketed from there.

Yes, I strongly believe mid-levels belong in healthcare & have a real contribution to make, but they are dangerous as the PCP. They dont know what they dont know. Would they pass the boards I'm required to pass? Nope. They take a much-watered down boards.  2/7 is HUGE.  

But they save money! 

Till they run into something they haven't ever seen. And dont have the training to figure out what to do.

Kinda like our hypothetical Pilot Assistant.  He does ok till he runs into a situation outside of his limited training. 

And the hypothetical plane crashes & burns.  

Fly safe, boys.  

[Guest]

On 9/13/2023 at 8:41 PM, josh282282 said:

...Let's add up the years of training a NP or PA gets:

2 years + ...zero = 2 years...

While I agree that physicians have more training than NP's (and especially PA-C's), your calculation on the number of years of training an NP gets is BS, and I hope you know it. Just to get an RN generally requires 4 years, as almost all RN's these days have BSN's. Certainly, RN's going to NP school will probably need a BSN. Then getting an NP certification will require either an MSN or DNP (master's or doctoral degree). 

So getting an NP will require 6 years of training:

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Edited September 15, 2023 by Unicorn