Anecdotes are mixed. Here's one from me:
See multiple PA's at E
endocrinology office,
test results indicate hyperthyroidism,
they all say no that's just barely above normal (it was actually significantly higher),
wait months between appointments,
after nearly a year force an appointment with the actual doctor,
"yep you have hyperthyroidism, let's get the drugs you need to live, I don't know how they missed that".
Mind you the PAs worked under that same doctor. So had it not been for patient effort to read and interpret test results, things would still be getting worse. Some PAs are great, some are not. Same as doctors, same as patients self testing and diagnosing.
And a nurse practitioner who has years of varied hospital experience including ER is different from one who doesn't.
And France places an ER doctor in emergency response ambulances - apparently that has value (and they sometimes park themselves while the doctor works to stabilize the patient rather than try to bounce around to the ER.)
Same for France and urgent care. If the phone screen goes in the right direction, a doctor driving around from patient to patient will get to you quickly (~ 20 minutes last time for me.) Even if you don't have local insurance, and for a surprisingly low price.
None of this is impossible - as the US med professions want you to believe.
