Urgent Care VS Emergency Care – Doctors
An emergency room, such as Frontline ER, minght seem like an operation in controlled chaos, but several healthcare professionals work under detailed work descriptions to achieve the same goals and objectives; saving lives and reducing the lasting trauma in injury and ailment patients. There are two major players in the emergency room, emergency medical specialists and trauma surgeons.
Both the trauma surgeons and emergency medical specialists respond to the emergency situations although they have a different set of skills. Emergency medical specialists receive all patients who come through the emergency room door despite their injuries or illnesses. They will handle patients who come in with the early stages of stroke, heart attacks, injury after an accident, persistent bleeding and so on. Emergency doctors call in for assessments, tests such as blood tests and even order for start-treatments such as blood transfusion. They do all these while diagnosing and undertaking the right motives to make the patient better. They are well trained in the initial stabilization of an injury or an ailment and even the settling down of minor trauma cases that come in the emergency department like stitching cuts.
On the other hand, trauma surgeons are not stationed in the emergency room. However, they will come if the patients fall into some critical categories such as very low blood pressure after a car accident, heart surgery after a heart attack or any other emergency surgery to save a life or prevent permanent damage. If the trauma surgeon is available with no scheduled surgeries, he or she can help the emergency room doctor with the severely injured or ailing patients. If surgery is required, the trauma surgeon takes over the operation. In the case the patient will be admitted, the trauma surgeon assumes responsibility and provides follow-up care for the patient. The trauma surgeon is a bit all rounded while in the emergency room department.
All medical doctors start off similarly while in medical school. However, they specialize after graduation during residency time. Trauma surgeons train longer and more profound than the emergency room doctors. It takes significant commitment to earn the title “trauma surgeon” with five to six years residency period in general surgery, then a year or two in surgical and trauma fellowship. Emergency medicine residency period takes about four years.
Again, trauma surgeons have more prolonged contact with patients right from rehabilitation, surgery, recovery, discharge and even after followup care. Emergency room doctors only stabilize and treat patients while assessing if they require admissions or further attention from other specialists in which the contact doesn’t last long.
Whilst many medical conditions require urgent treatment; they may not be severe enough to rush to the emergency room. In some cases, a patient may require urgent medical care, but their primary care provider may be unavailable. However, urgent care clinics do not have the capacity to handle life-threatening issues. Some staff doctors but most urgent centers employ physicians.
Some common conditions received at urgent care centers include flu, fever, asthma, minor cuts, and infections. These conditions require urgent attention to slow down the pain or effects but are not life-threatening. A physician will perform a medical exam and probably have a look at your medical history if available. The physician, just like a doctor has to have excellent assessment skills to detect the presence of any serious conditions and send the patient to the emergency room for advanced care or proceed with standard treatment as per training and experience gained.
The physician should also be in a position to order diagnostic tests which are at times conducted in the clinic in the presence of medical equipment. If the equipment isn’t available in the clinic, the patient will probably be referred to another clinic or health provider. They can also prescribe treatment and educate patients on self-care procedures while at home.
Physicians are required to have some medical experience in the field. A bachelor’s degree may be required as a qualification or a minimum of an associate degree. In some cases, they only require completion of certain college-level classes in biology, chemistry, and anatomy. One needs to complete classroom work and clinic rotations after being absorbed into the physician program. Once you complete the program, you are ready to sit for the licensing exam. Some physicians choose to complete residency in emergency medicine, but the urgent care center jobs do not require the residency qualification, although it may be helpful in gaining experience.
Physicians working in urgent care centers need to blend well in busy environments since urgent care centers are normally flooded with traffic. They may also need to have excellent interpersonal skills because they get to interact with many patients suffering from different ailments and some unaware if they came to the right place for medical care.
All in all, these doctors strive to provide the best medical care for the patients.
