Becoming a parent is both a joyful and stressful time. The arrival of a baby signals not only a shift in lifestyle and priorities, but also the need to care for another person in a way you may not have had to previously. A pediatrician may be able to help you in this journey, and that’s why finding a good one you can work with for the next two decades or longer is so important.
According to a policy statement issued in September 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics, “pediatrics is a multifaceted specialty that encompasses children’s physical, psychosocial, developmental and mental health.” Pediatric care may begin before birth and typically ends sometime during young adulthood. Previously, the academy recommended that pediatricians refer patients to other primary care providers when they reach age 21 but recently removed that upper age limit. “Recent research has begun to shed more light on the progression of mental and emotional development as children progress through the adolescent years into young adulthood. It is increasingly clear that the age of 21 years is an arbitrary demarcation line for adolescence because there is increasing evidence that brain development has not reliably reached adult levels of functioning until well into the third decade of life.”
[See: 14 Things You Didn’t Know About Nurses.]
Regardless of the exact exit date, the pediatrician will be with you every step of the way, from birth to young adulthood. Most patients see a pediatrician for routine exams and health measures as well as vaccines, common ailments and other general health care. Pediatricians can also offer support and advice on how to parent, how best to care for your child if he or she has a specific medical need and what to do if something goes wrong, in which case you may be referred to a pediatric subspecialist to treat the specific health issue. The primary care pediatrician is similar to a family physician or primary care doctor, but may have more specific training in the needs of young patients who are fundamentally different from their parents in terms of health needs because of their rapid rate of development.
Ann E. Burke, professor of pediatrics and program director of the pediatric residency program at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio, says when selecting a pediatrician for your child, parents should consider their training and certification status. As chair of the American Board of Pediatrics, she says “I may be biased, but I think [board certification] is a good way of assuring the public that a doctor has gone through legitimate channels to meet a certain requirement.” You can check whether a certain doctor is board-certified via the American Board of Pediatrics’ doctor search tool.
[See: HIPAA: Protecting Your Health Information.]
To become board certified, a pediatrician must graduate from an accredited medical school and then complete an intensive three-year residency program at one of the nearly 200 pediatric residency programs around the United States. To complete a residency program, pediatricians must complete training and pass several exams covering a wide range of specialty areas within pediatric medicine. By the end of the program, pediatricians are well-equipped to deal with most any health issue experienced by an infant, child, adolescent or young adult. According to 2015 data from the ABP, there are currently about 115,000 certified general pediatricians in America, and roughly 3,000 new pediatricians graduate from residency programs each year, about 60 percent of whom go into general pediatrics versus a subspecialty.
When selecting a pediatrician, Burke says “the first practical thing to do is to check with your insurance company.” Along with finding out whether a pediatrician is in your insurance network, think about the office location and hours, says Dr. Kristen N. Slack, a pediatrician at CHOP Primary Care, Haverford in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. “Location of the practice is really one of the most important things.” She says within the Philadelphia area, parents can search for CHOP-affiliated doctors by zip code via their website, which can help you determine “where they are in relation to your home so that you can pick somewhere that’s a short commute from your home versus work.” She says you should also find out whether the doctor has weekend and evening hours, in case your child needs care outside of normal business hours. Burke adds you should consider how the office staff treat you and whether getting an appointment is challenging.
With those logistics worked out, when you meet with the pediatrician for the first time, Slack says you should consider how both you and your child feel about the doctor. “Most pediatricians go into this field because they really enjoy working with children. You want to make sure you find a pediatrician who really seems to connect and bond with your child.” That can mean a number of different things to each individual, but “there’s someone out there for everyone in terms of doctoring style and communication style.” She says that while “medicine itself is all about science and facts and numbers,” there’s more to it than that, and you should consider “how a pediatrician applies [current knowledge and information] to the clinical setting. The doctor-patient relationship is more of an art, and I think finding someone whose style fits your own is really important.”
To help in finding a fit, you might ask friends and family who they’ve worked with. “If you’re new to the area, joining a parents group can be helpful. It’s always nice to be able learn from other personal experiences,” Slack says. But be sure to ask for specifics about why the other parent liked or didn’t like a doctor and “take what others are saying with a grain of salt knowing that sometimes your own personality type might be a little bit different from someone else’s. You might have a really great experience with someone who another parent didn’t click with,” Slack says.
[See: 10 Questions Doctors Wish Their Patients Would Ask.]
After a few visits, Slack says you should begin to get a “gut feeling about how this relationship is going,” and that if the fit isn’t there, it’s OK to move on and try another doctor. She also recommends speaking honestly with the doctor about specific concerns you may have. “If there are specific aspects of medicine that are really important to you such as vaccination schedule, or breast-feeding or if the child has any special medical needs, it’s also important to ask the pediatrician, ‘how do you feel about XYZ?’ to get some insight into their practice style with those specific things.”
As a final thought, Burke says that parents who lack insurance coverage for their children should still seek care. “Still call and ask or go to the nearest children’s hospital and ask if there’s any way to find a pediatrician.” She says “most children’s hospitals and even some private offices have social workers and people who can help. Sometimes folks are eligible for things they’re not aware of,” and that most children’s hospitals won’t turn away a child in need.
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How to Find the Best Pediatrician for Your Child originally appeared on usnews.com
