When it comes to the care and keeping of your health, the medical field plays a hugely important role – even for people who are, on the whole, very healthy. After all, getting annual well checkups with your doctor can be very important indeed to your overall health. And going to these well visits can even help to identify underlying issues that would otherwise not likely have been detected.
Of course, seeing a specialist might also be something that you benefit from. Many, for instance, benefit immensely from seeing a dermatologist. A dermatologist can help those who suffer from acne, a surprisingly large chunk of the population – even the adult population. Dermatologists can help treat other skin conditions as well. Even for those without skin conditions, visiting a dermatologist regularly – ideally, you should visit your dermatologist at least once a year – can be critical for early detection of skin cancer. Getting a skin check by a dermatologist on an annual basis can help to identify any moles that look suspicious early on – when the only treatment necessary is likely to be removal. When it comes to going to the dermatologist, it is almost always better to be safe than to be sorry.
Medical professionals and healthcare services can even be found outside of the realm of the GP and dermatologist (and all other specialist doctors as well, of course). As a matter of fact, as many as 20,000 doctors are now employed at various urgent care centers found all throughout the United States. Urgent care locations can be hugely valuable for a number of reasons, providing medical care for minor medical concerns when your general care doctor’s office is closed – and providing a viable alternative to emergency room care.
Urgent care clinics are very much on the rise, therefore, all throughout the United States. As of the year of 2016, there were already more than 7,000 urgent care locations found all throughout the country. This number is certainly only likely to grow in the years that are ahead of as well. After all, more than one quarter of the total population of this country has gone to an urgent care center at least once over the past couple of years. In the years that are ahead of us, these numbers are certainly only likely to keep growing and growing.
After all, there are many different types of medical care that can be obtained from an urgent care location or other such walk in clinic. For instance, care of injuries is common, as is the care of common illnesses. And prevetative care can also be offered. The flu shot is a great example of this type of care, especially when you consider the fact that everyone over 6 months of age should be getting a seasonal flu shot each and every year, as per the recommendation of the CDC. Getting the flu shot can even be life-saving, something that cannot be underestimated when it comes to the overall importance of getting vaccinated against the flu.
There are even other benefits to attending an urgent care clinic. In addition to providing a high quality of care, urgent care centers provide care that is largely convenient. As a matter of fact, more than half of all urgent care locations (around 60% of them, to be just a bit more specific) have average wait times that do not even exceed a mere 15 minutes. And more than 90% of all urgent care locations don’t have average wait times pushing much past a half of an hour. In a stark comparison, the average waiting time in the typical hospital emergency room is now at least one hour, if not even longer than this.
From the dermatologist to your general care practitioner to one of the many doctors working in urgent care centers all throughout the country, there are many places where you can get good medical care. Urgent care centers in particular help to make medical care more easily obtainable and accessible than ever before. Ultimately, these urgent care centers fill a vital need wherever you might look in the United States.
