Interviewing pediatricians? « Back to Group Discussions

[storygirlcindy]

So I'm "new" here... a lurker de-lurking only recently. :) I'm due in mid-March and determined to buckle down and actually find a pediatrician in the next few weeks (especially since I have higher than normal chances of delivering a bit early, due to several different issues... eek!). I admit, I am super stressed about the idea of finding a good pediatrician. I have a serious genetic illness and so have spent my life in doctor's offices and know my way quite well around the medical profession... which means I am strongly opinionated a lot of the time! I hate trying to find new doctors. I want a ped who will take my opinion seriously and respectfully, and who will be OK with a delayed vaxing schedule, and since that is something so many clinics are super hard-line about I'm certainly nervous.

Does anyone have any great tips on interviewing a pediatrician? What questions did you/do you plan to ask? How do you broach the vaccine issue?

Cindy

(35 weeks pregnant!)

[LightForest]

Welcome Cindy!

My only experience interviewing a pediatrician was when I went to an info session when pregnant with #1. My choice to go was driven only by the fact that they were in my neighborhood and accepted my insurance. It was a TOTAL waste of time!

After that, I just started searching around online for reviews of practitioners in my area that were friendly toward delayed vax and extended breastfeeding (in my opinion, if an MD is cool with these things then he's probably going to be on the same page as you about other stuff, at which point it's only a matter of finding someone with an acceptable bedside manner). My searches mostly landed me back here at MDC, in the local tribe threads. But I have also found a few of the reviews on yelp and similar sites to provide useful info.

My DD is now on her second MD (because we moved and had to find someone new), and both of them have been family practice type doctors, NOT pediatricians. (And both have been wonderful so far about all the right things - non-vax, breastfeeding, etc.)

So,

A) I encourage you to consider MDs doing general family practice, because in my limited experience they seem more open to attachment parenting type stuff, and

B) Definitely search online (or ask local friends with similar parenting styles, if you know any) for MDs in your area who are friendly toward alternative vaccination schedules.

in other words...

I don't think it's so much about composing the right interview questions as it is about finding those diamonds in the rough that other like-minded parents are already using. This is just my take on it after fumbling around to find someone when DD was a newborn, then recently using the less labor intensive method described above when we moved and had to find someone new.

[buko]

If you have a midwife or a very "natural-friendly" OB, s/he might have some good recommendations.  My HB MWs have a list of "crunchy" or "crunchy-friendly" peds who are cool with HB (and most with things like delayed or non-vax, etc.)-- I chose one from that list.

[storygirlcindy]

Yeah - I actually almost meant to add, another thing I'd be interested in hearing is peoples' experiences with family practices vs peds. I am actually a big believer in family practitioners in general and in our last town I had one I LOVED and would have taken our daughter to in a heartbeat. There's a family practice across the street from where I live and I've seen a few of their doctors and they're one of the practices I'm strongly considering, but so far I just haven't really "clicked" with any of the doctors I've seen there - not that I disliked them, just that it wasn't a case of "Oh wow, you should be my family's doctor forever!" There's also a peds office across the street that I'm looking into. I've gotten recommendations from several people but then often I look at the websites of the practices and they have info about their vaccine policies, etc... so that makes me a little nervous up front! ;) Also because I am immune-compromised I'd really like to find a place that either has sick/well separate waiting rooms or could put us in an exam room right away every time.

I figure I'll call a few different places next week and see what my initial impressions are, and go from there. I'm definitely considering the family practice pretty seriously, though. It's also nice because it has an urgent care after-hours... my only complaint about it is that it's a big practice with a big waiting room and LOTS of sick people every time I've been there... which as I mentioned is an issue for me. So, I guess we'll see!

[storygirlcindy]

Oh, and I have looked online as well and there is one doctor in my area who is consistently recommended by EVERYTHING I've seen. Only... he's not open to new patients right now! Grr....

[LightForest]

Originally Posted by storygirlcindy 

Oh, and I have looked online as well and there is one doctor in my area who is consistently recommended by EVERYTHING I've seen. Only... he's not open to new patients right now! Grr....

Oh yeah I had this experience with DD! Are you sure they wouldn't make an exception for a newborn? When I was shopping around last time I remember some of the offices making that distinction for whatever reason...

Ooh and Buko's suggestion to ask local midwives is a great one! My town has a homebirth meetup every month, which is a great place to ask about these things - maybe there's some similar "AP moms" meetup in your area. I'll bet LLL meetings would also be a good place to get suggestions.