I don’t get it. . .or maybe I do! Who are these nonphysicians who want to prescribe? Why would natural selection keep individuals from these small, vociferous, renegade subgroups (within these professions) out of medical school? Answer these questions, and you’ll understand the pseudo-delusional belief that they, too, can function as physicians.

As a former licensed Canadian pharmacist and a current resident in my last months of study, I have written to governors of states where this issue has come before the legislature. My message is simple: To prescribe a medication properly, one must understand patients from head to toe. This requires (even demands) one to gain knowledge and experience provided by years of intense study in most subspecialties of medicine. A few pharmacology courses is only a small piece of this process.

As a psychiatry resident, I have seen this ongoing battle waged by psychologists. A key part of their argument centers around the need for care in rural areas. They state that by gaining prescribing privileges, they would be able to provide care for these patients. Here is the funny part: There exist innumerable articles stating that cognitive behavioral therapy is as effective as medication in mild to moderate depression. So why do they not go to these communities and treat these patients with skills they are actually qualified to use? What are they really up to?

Jan Leard-Hansson, M.D.

Rochester, Minn.