Question:
Dear Jim, Thank you for your service and the blog. Jim, If I have provided an IMO from an expert Medical Doctor when filing my claim and supplemental claim to ebenefits, as well as, providing a copy to the C&P examiner, who is a VA Physicians Assistant (working at the VA hospital) during my C&P examinations for the same, why is it taking an extended amount of time for the PA to complete the DBQ and submit to VA and does MD trump PA?
Jim's Reply:
You're probably going to have to ask that Physician Assistant examiner why it's taking so long. If I were doing your exam, I promise I'd have had it done by now, but I sure can't account for the poor work habits of others.
MD does not automatically outrank PA in the ratings arena. It depends on who writes the evaluation in the preferred language of the VA bureaucracy. If the physician wrote the report using the appropriate language, then the MD credentials will almost always take the lead over lesser credentials. If the physician wrote a brief note similar to what may have been entered in a medical record or didn't disclose a rationale for the conclusions reached, that may not carry enough weight to help you.
Disability medicine is a specialty and many physicians who want to help simply aren't expert in the field.