The values of nursing must not get lost in the dominant medical culture. If they do, you justly risk the epithet of junior doctor. Patients do not need junior doctors. They need the knowledge and skills of both medicine and nursing. Dr. Barbara Bates, co-author of a test for family nurse practitioners, delivered at Cornell University a most important statement. This article touches on the history of the nurse practitioner movement and enlarges on its application in the West Indies.