How to Find a Pediatrician You Like
Finding a pediatrician you trust – reliable, affordable, and conveniently located – is not easy. I know this because now I am trying to do it for the third time in 10 years since the birth of my son. During this decade, I found two doctors whom we loved very much and with whom we communicated. We said goodbye to the former when we moved across the country a few years ago, and recently lost the latter due to a well-deserved pension. The search for the next doctor is still ongoing, but here’s what I’ve learned to ask and consider when buying from your child’s pediatrician.
Start with a referral
When it’s time to make a list of potential pediatricians (ideally sometime in the second half of your pregnancy or right after that), start with your circle of family and friends, as if you were looking for recommendations from a trustworthy auto mechanic or your favorite gym. Chances are, if your best friend adores her pediatrician, you will be in a good mood, too.
If you’re new to the area or don’t have friends or family with young children nearby, look online for recommendations such as local Facebook groups or the Nextdoor app . Of course, before you call to make your first appointment with your pediatrician (which you should definitely do), make sure they are online with your health plan.
Consider basic logistics
You may need to take your child to the doctor only once or twice a year, in which case you will not have to drive a little further or wait in the lobby a little longer than you would like. But you will probably visit them more often than once or twice a year, especially when they are very small and require regular check-ups and vaccinations – and are detected with every last kindergarten or preschool germ they come into contact with. An office that is too far away, or that makes you wait 25 minutes each time you visit, becomes outdated very quickly.
So, you need an office that is easy to reach from home and / or school, and you want to ask what happens if you need to make an appointment due to illness at the last minute. If the clinic you are going to visit has four different doctors, how likely is it that you will see your child’s pediatrician for an appointment due to illness?
My son’s first pediatrician was part of a similar practice, and although we could see his real doctor, maybe half the time we needed a patient visit, we had to visit another doctor in practice the other half of the time. And most of those visits were for one doctor that I didn’t really care about. (He always seemed to be free; perhaps I was not the only parent he constantly condescended to.)
You can also tell on the first couple of phone calls how helpful the receptionist or appointment system is, and wow, how important a kind and efficient receptionist is when you’re worried about a sick child. Also, you should ask what is the protocol for sick calls after hours and how they will be handled.
Make sure you share similar views
If you strongly oppose the screaming method, you may not be well acquainted with a doctor who will be quick to recommend it. Patients and doctors may have different views on things like how difficult it is to force yourself to breastfeed exclusively, or whether you want circumcision. Think about which problems are most important to you and ask your doctor what they are or what they usually recommend. If a particular point of view is vital to you – or if you feel that the doctor you are considering at least doesn’t respect your point of view, it’s time to move on and find someone who better suits your priorities.
You will also want to consider basic personal preferences, such as whether you prefer a younger doctor, or someone with years of experience, or a doctor of the same race as your child. Now that my son is older, this time I take gender into account. His first physician was a man and his second was a woman; but now that he is 10 years old, he would rather have a male doctor. So this time it is a priority in our search.
Sometimes you need to pay him multiple visits
I didn’t automatically click my son’s second pediatrician. She had a serious vibe in everything she did, whereas I thought I preferred the warmer approach. But the recommendation I received for her was so strong (this doctor was looking after a child I know during a very serious illness) and the office was so conveniently located that I decided to stay with her for a while. She never became what I would call friendly , but after a couple of visits I realized that she knew my child. She understood his medical history and gave me the opportunity to take a more proactive and proactive approach to certain treatments that he needed.
Over time, she could determine that something was wrong simply by looking at him and talking to him. On our last visit to her (about seven years of his relationship as her patient) I received him because of some pain in my legs. When she examined him and he told her where and how much it hurts, she turned to me and said: “Well, if he says that he is in pain, I know that he is in pain. He’s not the type to complain unless something really bothers him, so let’s take him to a podiatrist. “
I would not stay for a long time with a doctor with whom we simply did not communicate, but sometimes it is not immediately obvious that you have found the right one. If all other boxes are checked, I would suggest you visit it a few times before moving on.