I think we are wearing this thread out, as it sounds like we are preaching to the choir. At the risk of needlessly prolonging the discussion, I feel a need to respond to Christopher Walsh's post, regarding his analogy to nurses and doctors. As an architect working in the healthcare sector, I can safely say I have never worked with a nurse who confused her or his role with that of a physician. And increasingly, we are seeing a shift in healthcare education and delivery where the physician no longer occupies the center of the universe, so to speak, but is the leader of a multidisciplinary team composed of a broad spectrum of providers (sound familiars?). Nurses play distinct but very important roles, and we are seeing more nurse practitioners, who can prescribe medications without physician oversight (though the extent of this authority varies from state to state).
Regarding licensure, I agree with Christopher about the importance of licensure. Our firm actively encourages interns to pursue their licenses and become registered. Failure to do so puts a limit on how far they can advance in the firm. However, despite this, only the partners (owners) of the firm can stamp drawings. This is due to our professional liability insurance ... we won't maintain our cover if a non-partner stamps documents. We are a 160-person firm ... maybe policies are structured differently for smaller (or larger) practices?
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Mark Careaga AIA
Associate Principal
Payette Associates, Inc.
Boston MA