Haiku Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 The kids see a pediatrician that we love. However, her office is 40 minutes away, she only works part-time (which means, inevitably, when the kids are sick and we need to see her, we get stuck seeing her partner, whom we don't care for), and we always sit in the office forEVER waiting for our appointment. Today dd10 needs to go to the doctor because she has had a cough for a while and it's getting worse, not better. I'm taking her to Urgent Care because I can't deal with the half-day investment in seeing the pediatrician. My dh and I see a nice family practitioner whose office is 3 minutes (literally) from our house. I'm thinking of just switching the kids to him. Is it really important that the kids see a pediatrician instead of a family doc? Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brilliant Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Is it really important that the kids see a pediatrician instead of a family doc? No. It's more important that you can see the doc when you need to. We've moved around a lot - when my kids were younger, they sometimes saw a ped & sometimes a family doctor. It just depended on the best "fit" in the community we were in at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 We have always used a family practitioner. I think it's fine to switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 Yay! Between the two kids with chronic illnesses, I spend half my life at the local children's hospital. I spend the other half on medical paperwork. Having a readily accessible regular doctor will make life a lot easier. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Occasionally Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Our whole family goes to one family doctor. It simplifies things tremendously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DusksAngel Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 We have a family practitioner, although we actually see one of the NPs. I like the NPs as they are usually easier to get an appointment with, and I love one in particular as he takes time to explain everything, especially medications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittanyJen Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 The family doctor can synthesize important information that a separate pediatrician may miss... Parent has a job change, mom is treating for stress, etc that can impact kids, or on the flip side, see kids have issues that are affecting mom or Dad's ability to make time for themselves. As kids head through their teen years, they have an adult practitioner already; some older kds feel awkward in a waiting room packed with toddlers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroe1 Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 After an entire family begins to see the same physician, the physician may start accounting for family dynamics and beliefs, as well as disease, into the treatment. This makes for much better care for everyone in the family. Personally, I like the docs who deliver the grandson on Monday, treat the cousin's sore throat on Tuesday, and admit grandmommy to the hospital because of a heart attack on Thursday. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I keep my kids at the ped because one of them has some medical issues that the ped can handle better than our family doctor. If you trust your family doctor and the kids like him/her, then try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudboots Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Is it really important that the kids see a pediatrician instead of a family doc? I'll offer a slightly different perspective. We had a ped across town, and we liked him fine. We switched to one who was closer to us, and she was very abrupt. I wish we'd stuck with the first one. At this point, I'm planning to switch to an FP who was recommended to us. My only concern is whether the FP will be willing to refer when necessary. I had an FP many years ago who kept trying to treat my condition for two years. He should have referred me at the first appt. When I did finally see a specialist, he referred me directly to a sub-specialist. (That FP had other issues that came up later, so this wasn't a normal situation.) Any doctor should be willing to refer as needed, and I'll probably be extra cautious about this because of my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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