A doctor of medicine (M.D.) degree sets apart doctors from those who receive their credentials through other means. For some people, it may often act as an indicator of the quality of care provided. However, researchers from different countries conducted studies throughout the years and have found that non-M.D. providers may be qualified enough to provide clients with a high standard of care. Evaluating these findings may help gauge the verity of comparing the care of allied health professionals and advanced practice providers to those in possession of an M.D. and help advance the understanding of modern health care.
Systematic evaluations and specifications allow upholding the healthcare profession and help arrive at conclusions that numbers support. A two-year study of three clinics demonstrated high survivorship among the facility’s clients while taking into consideration other factors, such as health promotion, which indicated their employees’ compliance with Institute of Medicine standards. Furthermore, since both non-M.D. and M.D. degree holders fall under the same category of practitioners, identifying them as close standing in status becomes easier. However, it is possible to argue that there is a lack of “specific standards of practice in each area” for allied health professionals, thus, making them impossible to evaluate against an M. D. model. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that certain non-M.D. practitioners can provide a level of care equal in quality to a doctor’s one, but no formula that could impartially test each allied health professional exists.
The assessment of non-M. D. professionals against doctors is done against a rubric created for the evaluation of only the latter. Therefore, this rating does not take into account the qualification circumstances of either advanced practice providers or allied health professionals. The involved research demonstrates the ability of non-M. D. health care practitioners to carry out healthcare procedures on a high-quality level, equal to one of a doctor as per the Institute of Medicine standards. Thus, while the topic remains open for debate, it is evident that quality of care relies not only on acquiring an M.D. but also on other factors, independently and individually uplifted through healthcare practice.