Letters from the Editor-in-Chief

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.” This quote by French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr in 1849 is what rings true for me as I reflect on the 20-year anniversary of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine (JUCM). Over the last 2 decades, the landscape of urgent care has changed drastically. Some highlights of those changes include significant growth in the number of urgent care centers and the number of urgent care visits—both nationally and internationally—the inclusion of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in patient care, transitions …
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Countless times over the last year I have heard variations on a “we can’t” theme. It’s a specific and focused “we can’t” related to the services we are not able to provide to our urgent care patients. “We can’t do that test.” “We can’t use that medication in clinic.” “We can’t have our medical assistants do that.” Sadly, it is purely a reflection of education and training. However, as opposed to responding with increased training and educational support for our team members, we are restricting services and lowering the level …
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It is an absolute honor and pleasure to serve as the new Editor In Chief of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine (JUCM). To begin, I want to thank Joshua Russell, MD, for his incredible work with the journal over the last 5 years. His effort, dedication, and endless hard work have forever changed the direction of JUCM and shaped its future. It is my sincere hope to continue his impactful work by publishing meaningful educational pieces and original research to advance the field of urgent care medicine. I absolutely …
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At least once a month, a friend or family member will text me—often for the first time in years—to share the summary of a recent visit to their local urgent care (UC). While these texts are universally unsolicited, I genuinely love receiving them. The unfiltered perspective cannot be matched by even the most sophisticated electronic medical record analytics or patient experience reports. This is because the stories they share with me, while anecdotal, provide a qualitative and holistic picture of how UC is actually practiced. Through all these exchanges, I …
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In a prior editorial, I described the case of Thomas, a young man among the “worried-well,” who presented to urgent care (UC) with anxiety related to an alarm that sounded as a result of a malfunction of a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), which was prescribed despite his lack of a diagnosis of diabetes, out of concern for abnormal blood glucose levels.[1] The underlying issue prompting his visit was not hypoglycemia but what I refer to as “health data obsessive disorder” (HDOD)—a novel behavioral health disorder diagnosis I propose we might …
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