After years of public notices and sex education classes, most people now understand the importance of sexually transmitted disease (STD) testing. However, this doesn’t make it any less nerve racking when waiting to hear results. Even getting in to see the doctor can end up being a painfully long and tense experience.

When it comes time to get tested, some people may assume that the best place to go is a hospital. But waiting times in hospitals are usually very extensive considering the large number of patients and varying duties of nurses and doctors. Fortunately, more and more urgent care medical walk-in clinics are popping up that offer much quicker and easier access to STD testing.

Because urgent cares mainly focus on initial diagnosis and treatment rather than long-term care, they’re able to cycle through patients very quickly. About 69% of urgent care centers have average wait times of less than 20 minutes, as compared to what can sometimes be hours in an emergency room.

There is also no worry of having to set aside a chunk of time or take off work to go for STD testing. Approximately 85% of urgent care centers are open seven days a week to walk ins. Around 95% even remain open after 7:00 p.m. for your convenience.

If there is any worry that the staff working at these emergency walk-in clinics are not as knowledgeable as those working in hospitals, you can rest assured that the physicians at urgent care clinics are very experienced and well-trained in a multitude of medical fields. About 47.8% specialize in family medicine, 30.1% have trained in emergency medicine, and 7.6% have experience in internal medicine.

In order to bypass the stressful waiting period in lieu of fast STD testing, a hospital may not be the best option. Urgent care centers can offer the same medical services at a fraction of the wait time.