I have friends who really like their NPs and PAs. However, when one compares the full training, apples to apples, they do not have the same training and clinical hours requirements as an MD. I and others I know have been misdiagnosed by them or given incorrect information (even at Mayo). If one wants to practice like a doctor, one needs to acquire the credentials.
Of course, I have known doctors who were not up to par ...much depends on the passion one has for one's work.

I fully agree that one should not take advantage of residents and they should be paid. And doctors should be paid a salary (like Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic do) and not this fee for service system that only promotes quick moving assembly line of patient visits.

Salaries are based on what the market allows, and by who controls the purse strings. CEO pay in the US is outrageous. Medicare could reimburse at a higher rate if one took the insurance company out of the loop and we had a single payer system. Just look at the financial documents of these insurance companies, the sales and marketing costs, administrative costs and CEO pay. And the provider has extra costs to process different insurance company policy rules. That is money that could go to increasing pay of doctors or giving us more benefits. That money does not go for healthcare!