Dr. Niran Al-Agba

Honesty, Trust, and Transparency: PA-C and MD

When asked about this, the Public Affairs Manager, Cassandra Hockenson, at the Medical Board of California responded“there is not a huge difference between plastic surgery and dermatology.” She suggested contacting the Physicians’ Assistant Board for the State of California instead. She kept repeating that the supervising plastic surgeon had no complaints against him. I learned two important lessons from contacting the Medical Board of California: 1) Without complaints, a physician can supervise midlevel providers in any specialty they choose, and 2) while required by law to supervise mid-level providers, the safety of patients is not a high priority for the Medical Board of California.

Niran Al-Agba2020-05-26T02:20:36+00:00December 5, 2017|Categories: Patient, Policy|Tags: Hospitals, Medical Board of California, Midlevel, Nonphysicians, Providers, Transparency|

MD and DNP: WHy 20,000 Hours of Difference in Training and Experience Matters

After residency, a physician has accrued a minimum of 20,000 or more hours of clinical experience, while a DNP only needs 1,000 patient contact hours to graduate. As healthcare reform focuses on cost containment, the notion of independent nurse practitioners resulting in lower healthcare spending overall should be revisited. While mid-level providers cost less on the front end; the care they deliver may ultimately cost more when all is said and done.

Niran Al-Agba2020-05-14T03:20:14+00:00May 30, 2017|Categories: Equality, Patient, Physician, Policy|Tags: Autonomy, Health Policy, Midlevel, Nonphysician, Physician-led Care, Provider, Transparency|