Thesis:
Urgent care doctors are incompetent and their care is terrifying, angering, and (more importantly) annoying.
Evidence:
- Allergies. I get 'em. I am allergic to Samuel Richardson Adams (parrot). I am allergic to Boston Obama Evans (dog). I am allergic to anything that blooms in Utah between March 27 and July 13 (plants, flowers, trees, grasses). I can usually get away with an allergy pill a day. But, during my peak histamine-release time… I need steroids. I need them in my nose. I need them to modulate the expression of pro-inflammatory mediators by sitting themselves on the DNA of my cells. I know what I want. I went to an urgent care doctor to get it. He informed me that I… 1) need to come back in a couple weeks so he can ensure that they are, indeed, allergies; 2) need to use an allergy pill first… (Hello?!? … knock, knock, knock… did you see the allergy pill that I take every day listed on my check-in questionnaire?); and 3) this is not his "area of expertise"… So, I will need to see my primary care provider. FINE! Off to student health I went. You know, he was right, after 4 years of medical school and 3 years of residency… he definitely wasn't qualified as the NURSE at student health to write a prescription for an allergy medication. = Why can't I just write my own prescriptions?
- Outrageous stomach pain and "clogged pipes" for 9 days – even though I am typically a 1-2 times-a-day-er. I visit an urgent care doctor who takes an x-ray (no ultra sound, no CT, nothing to potentially detect the real problem – even though this clinic has the capability) and tells me that it is gas and I am constipated… He prescribed a bowel prep medication (magnesium citrate, for those who are interested– 2 bottles!! Note: one half of a bottle of magnesium citrate = 10x the laxative power seen on the movie "Dumb and Dumber"). Result? Nothing. Not even a toot. Called the urgent care doc back… he didn't see a problem. Allowed me to continue for DAYS without getting it out of me. Fun fact… I wasn't really "constipated" I had a soft-ball-sized Bertha hindering my abilities to… um… go. Oh! And, he gave me a pregnancy test even though I repeatedly told him that I had not yet "partaken of the forbidden fruit"… so to speak. It cost $90 for that one thing. I had no insurance. I paid cash. = Why can't I just order my own radiology images? Why can't I write my own prescriptions? Why is it so unbelievable that I would KNOW that I was not pregnant?
- Cough and blue finger tips and fever and sputum production at its finest. I went to an urgent care clinic. They prescribed me the right antibiotic BUT it was at ½ the dose necessary for my supposed "community acquired infection" and only gave me 3 days worth… I think he got confused. Maybe he was trying to treat a urinary tract infection? = What can't I just write my own prescriptions?
- (Most recently) Bilateral ear infection and "worst sinus infection [he'd] seen in years." So, what did he prescribe? … Oh! He didn't. He said, and I quote, "What do you think I should prescribe?" Me: "What are my choices?" He: "I don't know. Anything you'd like. And, how much would you do?" Me: "I don't know. I don't treat sinus infections on a regular basis. Isn't this your job?" He: "Yeah. I just thought you'd know. Maybe we could do (drug and dose)." Me: "Sure. That sounds ok." He: "How long do you think you should take it." Me…(pregnant pause)… (another pregnant pause). He: "I will just give you 14 days worth. You can take as much as you want." = Sure! How ironic! When I finally get the opportunity to write my own prescriptions, I don't even know what to do.
Conclusion:
Urgent care doctors have managed to misdiagnose and mistreat and miss the point of their job during each of my encounters with them. In spite of fiscal responsibility for our health care system, I would recommend going to an emergency room every time. Urgent care doctors are presumably worthless. Further, I would recommend asking your pharmacist their opinion before you accept and take any prescription written by one if you have the misfortune of their "help." I am literally afraid for the people who don't know what questions to ask and don't realize when what's done is wrong.
