Medics working in Urgent Care?

[NomadicMedic]

I'm curious if there are any medics here who work (have worked) in an Urgent Care setting?

I know several who have held positions, working more as an OcHealth practitioner, at a private clinic, but nobody's who's worked at an "open to the public" urgent care.

Thoughts?

 

[TransportJockey]

I have not, but one of the big healthcare systems in ABQ hires medics to work alongside nurses and docs at urgent cares. They are equal to nurses and not under the RNs delegation of care, just the docs.

 

[Parameduck]

In oregon I believe the hire paramedics instead of rn's for urgent care. For the ones I know who work in urgent care around here they seem to like it.

 

[Summit]

Most urgent cares are not using RNs, but some mixture of MA/EMT/LPN.
Pay is more than ambulance but less than ED Tech and pay is the same regardless of cert/icense.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Around here they are all FNP/MA

 

[Summit]

Around here they are all FNP/MA

Pretty much. But around here there aren't many MAs but there are multitudes of experienced EMTs they can hire for cheap. They do OJT and let them get their MA within a year of hire.

I know a RN working at an urgent care... she was working as an MA (but her cert was EMT). She got her ADN but hasn't been able to get a hospital job, so she kept her urgent care position, but she isn't making RN pay.

Paramedics are vastly overqualified to be MAs from the clinical standpoint, but they may have a learning curve for the back office/coding/billing work they'll inevitably be asked to do at many urgent cares.

 

[wildrivermedic]

Little late to post, but I work at a community health clinic that does a lot of urgent care since it is located more than an hour from any other providers. I fill an MA role but am able to put on my paramedic hat when needed by contacting dispatch and putting myself at scene, then transporting with the volunteer ambulance. I also do a good bit of triage for the urgent care walk-ins and phone calls.

They hired me straight out of medic school (actually with a week of internship left) and I feel like it's been a really good fit. It has vastly helped my role as the only medic in town to be able to be part of the follow-up with my ambulance patients, and the skills and mindset of EMS seem to be helpful when something urgent comes along to disrupt the family practice flow.

 

[ExpatMedic0]

In oregon I believe the hire paramedics instead of rn's for urgent care. For the ones I know who work in urgent care around here they seem to like it.

OHSU in Portland (the level 1 trauma center and medical school hospital) hires paramedics in the ED to work specifically in the trauma ward, not as tech's but instead of an emergency nurse for the position. At least... they did 10 years ago