Posts about Urgent Care
It’s 9 a.m. in urgent care, and your next patient is here for a sore throat. They want a rapid strep test and antibiotics. But we all know that most sore throats are viral, and antibiotics won’t help. That’s exactly why clinical decision tools, such as the Centor and McIsaac criteria, matter. They guide testing decisions, help us avoid unnecessary antibiotics, and keep care efficient on a busy shift.
You find the anemia first. Maybe it’s a low hemoglobin on a routine panel. Or a ferritin that makes you pause. But something doesn’t make sense. The patient is young and healthy, with no obvious sources of blood loss. So you ask a few more questions.
If you’ve ever treated the same female patient for bacterial vaginosis (BV) more times than you can count, you’re not alone. Recurrent BV is incredibly common. In fact, more than 50% of women experience a recurrence within six months of treatment. For clinicians, it's tough to manage. For our patients, it’s disruptive and frustrating. But there’s good news: recent research has provided us with promising results. And no, it’s not a new...
Occupational medicine is rarely a "one size fits all” approach. For clinics and clinicians operating across state lines, managing workers' compensation isn't just a clinical challenge; it is a regulatory maze.
Picture this: you walk into a patient’s room with a chief complaint of lower back pain. Straightforward, right? Then the patient casually adds, “It started after I hurt my back at work.”
Whether you are working in primary care, urgent care, or the emergency department, chances are you see a patient complaining of lower back pain during every shift. It’s one of the most common reasons patients seek care, but also a chief complaint that leads to over-testing, over-treating, and is one of the driving factors behind the opioid epidemic.
Pediatric vomiting is one of those classic urgent care visits that can look completely harmless or quietly concerning. The moment you walk into the room, you are already calculating hydration status, the likelihood of tolerating oral fluids, and whether this is a “treat here” situation or a “transfer now” one. Fortunately, most kids do extremely well with oral rehydration therapy when we choose the right candidates and set them up with a...
You're midway through a busy day when a patient walks in with “just another pneumonia” — fever, cough, perhaps shortness of breath. They mention recent travel to NYC. That should immediately raise the question: Could this be Legionnaires' disease?
Whether you’re in primary care, urgent care, or the ED, the pediatric physical exam can be challenging. Adult vitals make sense. Adults generally cooperate. But kids? They squirm, scream, and sometimes can’t even tell you where it hurts. The pediatric exam isn’t just smaller, it’s a different beast altogether.
It’s every clinician’s nightmare: a pediatric patient in full-blown anaphylaxis, your team scrambling to find the epinephrine vial, draw it up, calculate the pediatric dose, triple-check the concentration — oh, and do it all in a resource-limited setting.
Knee pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal complaints seen in primary care, emergency medicine, and outpatient clinics. Yet despite its prevalence, evaluating an injured knee can feel deceptively complex. Swelling can obscure findings, patient discomfort may limit your exam, and the sheer number of specialized maneuvers can leave even experienced clinicians second-guessing their technique.
Short courses of oral steroids are part of our primary care toolkit, whether it's prednisone for COPD, asthma, back pain, or a rash that just won't quit. But even a quick burst can pack a punch. If your patient came back with high blood sugars or mood changes after a Medrol Dosepak, you’re not alone.