Letters from the Editor-in-Chief

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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“Low blood sugar” was his chief complaint, but Thomas was in my urgent care (UC) mostly because he was feeling anxious. It wasn’t hypoglycemia that was making him nervous either. Thomas didn’t have diabetes or take any medication for high blood sugar. Regardless, he was wearing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), which he lifted his shirt to show me when I entered the room. Thomas explained his primary care physician (PCP) had prescribed the device somewhat reluctantly earlier that week, and Thomas had deployed the sensor in his abdominal subcutaneous …
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“Do as little as necessary, not as much as possible.” This is the mantra I recite throughout every urgent care shift without fail—that’s how mantras work after all. Hearing the word “mantra” might conjure images of a placid-faced yogi seated in the lotus position for some, but a mantra needn’t serve only spiritual practice. A well-conceived mantra can also prove useful when deployed in any context where we might benefit from being reminded frequently to act differently than if left to the mercy of our habits or human nature. Clinical …
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Recently one evening, I meandered into a bar on iconic 6th Street in Austin, Texas— America’s epicenter for live music. Venues throughout the district feature free, live performances every night from some of the nation’s most talented musicians. On that particular evening, however, the sounds from one electric guitar coming from a small stage in a dark room cut through the humid air and grabbed my attention. I wandered in, found a seat at the bar, and took in the guitarist’s performance. He was nothing short of a master. His …
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