Pediatrician help in AZ

[tirsa]

I am still on the search for a good pediatrician in Arizona. I like to do things as natural as possible and I keep butting heads with my sons doctors. I just went to a new pediatrician in hopes she would be the one but I disagreed with her on many things. I understand I am going to get the speech on the AAP's recommended vaccine schedule. I am a very educated woman and do not agree with a lot of the CDC's statements on how safe vaccines are. The thing that threw me over the edge at the last well-baby appointment was when the doctor told me that there was no nutritional value in breast milk after 12 months. My son is extremely allergic to dairy and eggs so I am not going to take away the only thing nutritional in his diet. If anyone knows a good peditirican in Arizona please pass on the info. I just want to be more natural with my medical approaches.
Thanks
Tirsa

[sarahtdubb]

Hi tirsa,

Where in AZ are you? That'll help with recommendations!

Sarah

[tirsa]

Originally Posted by sarahtdubb

Hi tirsa,

Where in AZ are you? That'll help with recommendations!

Sarah

I am in Mesa, AZ. I hope that helps. I would be willing to travel a bit for a good one though

[amcal]

If you do a search in this forum, you'll get lots of recommendations.

I personally like Dr. Piacentine at Mesa Pediatrics. They have several offices but, I think he only goes to the one on McClintock and Guadalupe.

He's never even mentioned vaxing to me but, prior to him, we saw another Dr. at the practice and while I adored her, she felt vaxing was important so she had me sign waivers at ever appointment. So, I don't know if he's seen the waivers and that's why he doesn't mention them?

I like that he seems to be very AP although I don't really talk about my parenting practices with him. But, he didn't even bat an eye when he found out I was tandem nursing my 3 and 4 year olds.

The only possible negative about him and this to me is very minor but, he does seem to give out some parenting advice - talks about chore charts, positive reinforcement etc... It's not a major part of a visit but, he does make suggestions. You can just smile and go about your business but, if something like that would bother you then, he may not be right for you.

As far as the rest of the practice - there isn't any other doctor there that I would be willing to see. We saw a couple and I they were antibiotic pushers and one mis-diagnosed DD as having asthma when she only had a cold.

Dr. Piacentine isn't like that at all. He takes his time, asks questions, doesn't hesitate to refer for further evaluation if needed, is great with taking a wait and see approach if possible, is very accessible - returns his own phone calls and is just all around a really nice guy.

http://www.mesapeds.com/physicians_tempe.asp

[tirsa]

Originally Posted by amcal

If you do a search in this forum, you'll get lots of recommendations.

I personally like Dr. Piacentine at Mesa Pediatrics. They have several offices but, I think he only goes to the one on McClintock and Guadalupe.

He's never even mentioned vaxing to me but, prior to him, we saw another Dr. at the practice and while I adored her, she felt vaxing was important so she had me sign waivers at ever appointment. So, I don't know if he's seen the waivers and that's why he doesn't mention them?

I like that he seems to be very AP although I don't really talk about my parenting practices with him. But, he didn't even bat an eye when he found out I was tandem nursing my 3 and 4 year olds.

The only possible negative about him and this to me is very minor but, he does seem to give out some parenting advice - talks about chore charts, positive reinforcement etc... It's not a major part of a visit but, he does make suggestions. You can just smile and go about your business but, if something like that would bother you then, he may not be right for you.

As far as the rest of the practice - there isn't any other doctor there that I would be willing to see. We saw a couple and I they were antibiotic pushers and one mis-diagnosed DD as having asthma when she only had a cold.

Dr. Piacentine isn't like that at all. He takes his time, asks questions, doesn't hesitate to refer for further evaluation if needed, is great with taking a wait and see approach if possible, is very accessible - returns his own phone calls and is just all around a really nice guy.

http://www.mesapeds.com/physicians_tempe.asp

Thank you so much for you reply! Anything helps these days. I am just so consumed with trying to find the best thing for my son and it doesn't help when you don't like the doctor. I actually took him to the San Tan office of Mesa Pediatrics. I LOVED the office layout and how calm it was. The last peds office I went too always had over 15 kids waiting to see the doctor. It was nice that there were only 2 at this office at once. That will be nice if I choose to go see Dr. Piacentine because I wont have to switch practices. THank you again!!
Tirsa

[BamBam'sMom]

We go to the Gilbert Pediatrics office at Greenfield and Baseline, and see Melani, one of the NPs. My NMD recommended them, and says all of them are fine with not vaxing. So far, I have been happy with them. Melani has never even lectured me about vaxing. She hasn't said anything either way about extended nursing, but I wouldn't really care if she did. Peds say stuff like that, and just have to be ignored, IMO. She's good with my kids.

Still, they're just normal peds. They don't give us much time, when we have been there for illnesses, I usually kind of feel like we wasted our money. We see our NMD for most things, and I take my kids to the ped for well checks.

They also have some sort of an after hours thing there, I can't remember the hours, that could save you an urgent care visit. They always get me in very quickly for sick visits.

[azgirl]

We see Dr. Sudha at Gateway Pediatrics. She absolutely pushes vaxes, but we do it our way and she lets us...we just get some slight pressure. BUT it's worth it for other elements of the practice. She is a certified lactation consultant and has a lactation consultant on staff. We like to to go in the evenings so my husband can go and it just works better for us. They do have a lot of extended evening hours. She is just mellow with us about weight gain etc. Also, her sons are intact, so she isn't going to do/say anything weird about that. I don't know if that is even an issue anymore, though. Maybe most peds these days are educated on proper care of intact infants...
Anyway, I know you can find a better ped! Good luck!