Well, I am a nurse. A regular hospital RN with a Bachelors degree, no advanced degrees of any sort.
Some of my thoughts:
~The amount of schooling someone has doesn't necessarily make them "better" than someone else. I know many physicians who have a lot of very impressive education credentials, who aren't good doctors. Sometimes doctors can get into their "I'm the doctor" mode and miss good insights from ALL members of the medical profession. (This is coming from a hospital nurse in early July who has been dealing with the new influx of interns, all of whom are very quick to remind you that they the "the doctor" with their 10 minutes of experience, so I may be a bit testy right now.
)We can all learn from each other if we take the time to listen. Nurses tend to be very unimpressed with MDs who feel the need to recite their credentials. Don't tell me you're a good doctor. Prove it to me.
~MDs, in general, don't like professions that can "horn in" on their turf, for that very reason...they're horning in on their turf, which ultimately means a pay cut. Hence the reason orthopedists don't like chirpractors, many MDs don't like PAs & NPs.
~Ideally, the relationship between a PA or NP and an MD is supposed to be collegial. The MD is ultimately responsible for those who work "under" him/her, so there is concern on the MD's part (and understandably so) that the PA or NP is doing a good job. But that should be the MD's concern about any member of their staff. There does have to be a relationship of trust built, the PA or NP has to know their limits, they have to be able to "check" their ego enough to say "I'm not sure about this, let me speak with the MD". But, quite frankly, I also think a good doctor should kn ow their limts and be able to say "I don't know" and be willing to call in someone who will know, or who might be better equipped with specialty education so that they can figure it out. In my primary MD's office, they have NPs (no PAs). basically, the NP sees you, develops a preliminary diagnosis, usually spends a couple of minutes discussing it witht he MD who gives the final OK for the NPs treatment plan, or the MD may make a change to the treatment plan. Essentially what the NP does in my MD's office is get the patient started, seen, preliminarily diagnosed. The NP takes 12 of the 15 minute office visit and then the MD takes the last 3 minutes to double check. Frees up the MD some, I guess. I have no problem with it because I have always found the NPs in my MD's office to be quite good.
The bottom line is, like in any profession, there are good and bad. There are good and bad doctors, nurses, PAs, NPs, teachers, police officers, politicians (well, actually I'm starting tho think all politicians are bad and self-serving so let's leave them off this list!). And frankly, just because someone misses a diagnosis or misdiagnoses someone, doesn't make them "bad". Healthcare is provided by humans. Humans make mistakes. Believe me when I tell you, most healthcare people don't start their day by saying "Let's see how many people I can make worse today by screwing up".
And delilah, while I'm sure you're a very good doctor and your credentials are quite impressive, the tone of your post was quite condescending.
there are several on staff at the medical clinic I visit. 
