A GUM clinic provides a place for all males and females, age groups and sexual orientation to seek advice and help.
The staff can help diagnose, treat and care for people who suffer from sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Many GUM clinics offer a walk in service, or you can reserve a time slot convenient for you.
Many symptoms can be diagnosed on the spot or after a short wait.
For example HIV testing can take only 15 minutes.
Quite often a GUM clinic will have a separate waiting area for men and women and separate sessions for young people, gay men, gay women, male sex workers and female sex workers.
A GUM clinic will quite often have specialists who are dedicated in solving sexual health issues such as HIV, AIDS, genital warts, genital herpes, syphilis, hepatitis, sexual dysfunction, erectile dysfunction, etc.
These clinics have a proven track record of being of great help to patients providing a high standard of health care.
What can I expect when I visit a clinic? When you visit a clinic, just like when you visit your doctor, you will be treated with respect and in confidence.
Many people are too embarrassed to visit a GUM clinic and often leave it till symptoms cause discomfort and have been ignored for a while.
In all cases it is best that they visit a clinic sooner rather than later as quite often there can be a long period between a person contracting an STI and actually showing symptoms.
Examinations can include the area of the genitals, anus, mouth and skin.
A blood or/and urine sample maybe taken, a swab sample from the urethra, throat or rectum and for women a swab taken from the vagina or cervix.
Many clinics offer free advice if you have any worries or concerns, this includes contraceptive advice and fitting, and also support for victims of sexual assault.
On-going support is provided to patients who have long term infections, including and not limited to HIV and AIDS.
As the healthcare in these fields advance, staff continue to improve the care they can give.