Mid-level practitioner

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Mid-level practitioners, also called non-physician practitioners, advanced practice providers, or commonly mid-levels are health care providers who assess, diagnose, and treat patients but do not have formal education or certification as a physician. The scope of a mid-level practitioner varies greatly among countries and even among individual practitioners. Some mid-level practitioners work under the close supervision of a physician (such as doing pre-op and post-op assessment and management, thus allowing surgeons to spend more of their time operating), while others function independently and have a scope of practice difficult to distinguish from a physician. The legal scope of practice for mid-level practitioners varies greatly among jurisdictions, with some having a restricted and well-defined scope, while others have a scope similar to that of a physician. Likewise, the training requirement for mid-level practitioners varies greatly between and within different certifications and licensures.

Because of their diverse histories, mid-level providers' training, functions, scope of practice, regulation, and integration into the formal health system vary from country to country. They have highly variable levels of education and may have a formal credential and accreditation through the licensing bodies in their jurisdictions.^[1] In some places, but not others, they provide healthcare, particularly in rural and remote areas, to make up for physician shortages.^[2]