Sadly, you have experienced the joy of pre-written exams courtesy of the electronic medical record. Just click one button and the exam is entered in the record. It may or may not be this doctor's routine to actually examine the patient more thoroughly than you were examined, or not. However, it sounds like the doctor made the correct diagnosis of diverticulitis from your history and the brief exam your received. 90% of diagnostic information is obtained from the history.
Here is the key sentence from the recommendations of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons regarding diagnosis of diverticulitis:
Quote:
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A diagnosis of acute diverticulitis often can be made based on history and physical findings especially in patients who have had a previously confirmed diverticulitis
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In patients where the diagnosis is uncertain then CT is the preferred diagnostic test. Everyone should be aware of the very high dose of radiation delivered by a CT and in a patient with a reasonably clear diagnosis who is not toxic it would certainly seem reasonable to treat and advise the patient to follow up with their primary care provider, or in the OP's situation where the OP seems to have already had a gastroenterologist, to follow up with that person. It is not the role of an urgent care doctor to provide complete care, just to evaluate whether you have an urgent situation, provide temporary control and get you back to your established providers.
As to the utility and duration of antibiotics for management of diverticulitis
Randomized clinical trial of antibiotics in acute uncomplicated diverticulitis - Chabok - 2012 - British Journal of Surgery - Wiley Online Library
Mild colonic diverticulitis can be treated without antibiotics. a case–control study - de Korte - 2012 - Colorectal Disease - Wiley Online Library
Use of antibiotics in uncomplicated diverticulitis - de Korte - 2011 - British Journal of Surgery - Wiley Online Library
And this study comparing 4 days of therapy versus the "standand" of 7 days
Prospective randomized trial comparing short-term antibiotic therapy versus standard therapy for acute uncomplicated sigmoid diverticulitis - Springer
Antimicrobial Therapy for Acute Colonic Diverticulitis
And there are many many more. No where did I find a study saying the correct duration of oral antibiotics is 14 days. So that is your GI doctor's preference but not based on any recommendation I could find. There is nothing wrong with 14 days, but there is a very very big difference with a doctor saying, " I prefer 14 days of antibiotic" vs saying "14 days is the only correct management and your previous doctor mis-managed you".
So in summary you presented with abdominal pain to an urgent care where the correct diagnosis was made without exposing you to any unneeded testing or a CT. An antibiotic was given for a period of time well within the recommendations in the literature. Whether two antibiotics (?metronidazole) was also "needed" is not established but is done by some.
I do have issues with the paper work and the errors in documentation. I am also unhappy that they did not reply to your letter. And most importantly, you seem to have gotten better. Hopefully your GI doctor gave you explicit directions on how (s)he wants you to handle your next episode should you have it again.