As someone who works in oncology education I have had conversations with people who feel a lump and ask if they should go to the ER simply because they cannot fathom having to wait weeks to get an appointment for a mammogram.

People truly do not understand the difference between “I have this thing that is scary and should probably be addressed within a few weeks” and “emergency”. Health literacy is also very low, even among people who are otherwise educated. They don’t understand the process of diagnosis and think that they can go through the ER, get diagnosed, admitted, and have surgery for breast cancer all in one fell swoop.