Not so Confident When It Comes to Derm Presentations? You May Be More Capable Than You Think

Dermatology is referred to as a “specialty” for a reason; like cardiologists, ophthalmologists, and the rest, providers receive specialized training that gives them a wealth of knowledge particular to one field of medicine or another. As such, it’s a rare urgent care provider who could appropriately identify themselves as a dermatologist. That doesn’t mean they’re incapable of treating patients who present with many dermatologic concerns, of course—though whether they feel confident enough to do so is another matter. This disparity between competence and confidence was echoed in a new study published by Cureus, in which non-dermatologists (not necessarily urgent care providers) were asked to identify an urgent skin condition based on a brief case scenario that included a photo of a typical presentation of that condition. The participants’ diagnostic abilities far exceeded their confidence. While the group’s overall accuracy rate was 61.3%, only 25.3% said they were fully confident in their hypothetical diagnosis. While a little humility is healthy, when a provider lacks confidence to the extent that they refer patients who could safely be treated in urgent care this contributes to acuity degradation, which regular readers of JUCM and JUCM News know is a serious concern in urgent care right now. And if you need evidence that urgent care really can be an appropriate setting for patients with derm concerns, read a case report entitled Mysterious Skin Lesions in a Horse Trainer in the JUCM archive right now.