Pediatrician vs. Family Doctor

[ncjulia12]

We live in a small town with only one pediatrician. Almost all of my friends drive to the "big city" an hour away to other larger pediatric offices because they don't like the one here. I thought they were all being too picky and took DS to the local pediatrician. Everyone else was right- he was awful and everything about his practice was awful. Luckily another pediatrician came to town and we switched. But she was ran off by the bad pediatrician within a year.

Sooo...DS and the new baby are currently doctor-less.

DH thinks we should just take them to a family doctor in our town or the next town over, but I think, especially for a new baby, I would rather see a pediatrician- since they are in the kid stuff day in and day out- unlike a family doctor, who may only see kids- and especially babies- occasionally. It will stink to have to drive an hour to appointments though- especially with all the appointments you have the first year with a baby.

WWYD? Do you think it's worth an hour drive to see a pediatrician?

[yelah250]

We are using our family doctor. We used to go to a pediatrician but they are serious sick factories and I felt like we caught something every time we were there. I'm an early childhood professional so I feel like I can handle the milestone aspects and I stay UTD on what's going on with carseats and AAP recommendations so I don't feel like *my family* needs a pediatrician. You have to do what's best for your family, but I think that driving an hour for appointments would be highly inconvenient if there is any way to avoid it.

[Deleted]

DD was delivered by our family Dr and has continued to see her since birth. Sadly this Dr stopped her OBGYN side of her practice, but still does babies and children in the family practice. We will continue to see her with baby #2 after he/she arrives.

I would suggest you ask around and maybe do a meet and greet with the family practice in town. That way you can guage for yourself if you like them better than the 2 hour round trip drive.

[ncjulia12]

Jan 23, 2015 9:17:59 GMT -5 @sldober0521 said:

DD was delivered by our family Dr and has continued to see her since birth. Sadly this Dr stopped her OBGYN side of her practice, but still does babies and children in the family practice. We will continue to see her with baby #2 after he/she arrives.

I would suggest you ask around and maybe do a meet and greet with the family practice in town. That way you can guage for yourself if you like them better than the 2 hour round trip drive.

That sounds so lovely that you had one super-doctor that could do it all. : )

Unfortunately, I think any of the "family practices" around here would think I was crazy-pants if I asked for a meet and greet. It's more like general practitioners who happen to also see kids- and we are in a high-poverty area so everything is focused on the basics and serving lots of people fast.

[elauren88]

DD goes to a family practitioner, always has. He's also my doctor, and we love him. Not all advice he gives is great advice (with our parenting style), but I imagine you'd find that with a pedi as well.
I never had a pedi, so it wasn't a big deal to me. Also, I like that I won't have to find a new doctor later.

[gw3nny]

Ugh, this same thing happened to me! Only I was a dolt and didn't figure out how bad it was until my DS was born. Actually I STILL didn't figure out how bad it was until my friend mentioned something about when her son's were infants and something about genital checks... I was like, they're supposed to do that? And I realized chunks of my children's care was just missing. I switched to another ped, but she was at a clinic and didn't mesh well with the other practitioners and they didn't renew her contact. By then, my son was 18 months and my daughter was almost three.

Our town is also small and rural and not accustomed to meet and greets with any docs. My ped I liked advised us to drive out of town, but I couldn't see doing that for sick care. We found a doctor that does not accept medicaid. Does that make me sound snobby? But his office is way, way more efficient. I am used to not agreeing with health care practitioners on a variety of topics, so I wasn't looking for someone I meshed perfectly with, just someone who could get the job done and I could weigh their advice with the advice of family members who are in the field and books I've read. I'm happy with our choice. We've been there about a year. I don't think he sees a ton of children, but the women in the office always gush over the kids and give them about a million stickers. Also, know what I love? They do follow up calls to see how you're handling meds/ see how your condition has improved, etc. I've never had that in my life! I don't know if that's because he doesn't take medicaid or for some other reason, but I love it.

Warning, though, getting our vax records switched over has been a complete nightmare. I can't tell you how many phone calls and and office visits I've made to demand copies. Our GP doesn't do vaccines in office and referred us to the HD. I contract for the HD and am friends with some of the girls who work in that area and that helped, but there were gaps missing in our records for ages because incompetent office workers don't know how to read records or send faxes, apparently. So I recommend switching as soon as possible in order to make the transition smoother.

[beachy]

Jan 23, 2015 9:48:14 GMT -5 @justinslovo said:

I would probably drive to the pediatrician. Do you have any emergency services or urgent care for cases where you can't drive the hour to the pediatrician? That would be my main concern. I dont feel like (after infant appointments) that you go that often. It may be nice to may a day trip out of it when hiu have a check up!

Ditto this. And really unless there are issues the appts shouldn't be that often. Our general ped schedule is 2w, 2m, 4m, 6m, 9m, 12m, 15m, 18m, 2y. That's not that many over the course of 2 years. 

[megsethe2010]

We choose to drive an hour to our pediatrician and my OBGYN. There are 3 or 4 pediatricians in town but the one we take our DS to is open for sick children on Saturday and Sunday after church which was a huge plus to me. They have 8 doctors in their practice and I love all of them I've met so far. As far as taking off work for appointments, I work through my lunch and get the latest appointment offered and I usually don't have to lose any work time.

[rach]

We drove about 30 minutes to our ped in our previous city. We loved her and that made it worth it. Even 30 minutes (especially since it was *not* close to my work, but 30 minutes beyond my commute home) was kinda difficult to navigate though. I generally had to schedule well visits at the beginning or the end of the day since I worked.

I really think an hour away would be hard. I wouldn't want to drive an hour with a sick child either.

[wineandcake]

I'm in Canada so things are a little different. Everyone sees a regular family doctor, if a child has a more serious medical condition or needs to see someone who specializes in children's medicine then they are referred to the ped. DS went to one when he was a baby because of blood/mucous in his stool and was seen for a while because of that and then back to the family doctor.

I would do the family doctor route for convenience and be referred if needed.

[ladyannibal]

This may be extremely stupid, but how do you find/pick a "family doctor"?
I moved to Florida like 3 years ago but it didn't occur to me to try and find a doctor until after I got pregnant.

[ladyannibal]

Thanks ladies!

[ncjulia12]

Thanks for all the great input and suggestions, ladies! I do work, but it's at a school, so if I can get later appointments and scoot out of school a little early, that shouldn't be too much of an issue.

I'll call around a little and see what kind of vibes I get from different options. If I come across what seems to be a great "family doctor" in the area, that seems like a completely viable option, but right now, a big city pediatrician's office with a nurse line, and lactation consultant, Saturday hours, etc. sounds like a little luxury in my little small town life. I'm showing my small town pride by having my baby here, but that I think that awful local pediatrician burned me from piddling around and trying doctors that aren't recommended by my friends and co-workers with kids.

[akmom]

We don't have the option of a pediatrician here. My kids see one of the midwives at the local doctor's office for well-child checks. She has had specialized training and is also the mother of 5 (including twins). Any time the children have any health issues, they see one of the regular doctors in the practice. I guess I never even thought of doing anything different. There really isn't much choice here, and I love the midwife they see.