30-year veteran Emergency Medicine provider Dr. Tom Goldberger explains “Why Urgent Care”

“I practiced medicine in hospital Emergency Departments for 30 years. I loved it. It was exciting, dramatic and I felt privileged to be able to make a difference.

Two years ago, intent on finding a less stressful occupation, I gave up Emergency Medicine and have specialized in Urgent Care since that time. Urgent Care Medicine is less stressful but I found something even more important.

In a hectic ED it is often a struggle just to get the necessary work done, leaving little or no time for the more personal/human interaction. The sick or injured person who comes in to my Urgent Care center is no less concerned, no less frightened than the patient who presents to the ED. The real difference is in me. Although the patient’s issue is often urgent, the solution is usually not complex. That leaves me with time to speak with the patient, to address fears, to make the human connection, to establish trust and confidence.

My patients and I are usually laughing when we say goodbye, not because I am saying funny things, but because we have established a human connection. We laugh because we are enjoying each other’s company. It appears that the patient feels better even before leaving the Center. Strangely enough, so does the doctor.”