No offense to any apn . but just found out my psych doc is not a psych but an apn. i am pretty sick , can an apn be as qualified as a psychiatrist?

Becoming more common: It's a trend. You'll see Nurse Practitioners & Physician Assistants (PAs) in all the medical fields now. APNs are RNs (registered nurses) that went on to get a master's or doctorate degree in nursing. They are not trained as long as a MD. So I have some misgivings as well. They tend to practice more by algorithms (cookie cutter). But I also know some NPs and PAs that are better than doctors.