Child Doctor Tips : How To Find The Best Pediatrician For Your Kids
FAMILY PHYSICIAN OR PEDIATRICIAN?
If you prenatal care is being provided by a family physician who also takes care of children then you need read no further, as your new child will benefit from the care given by this doctor. If you don’t have a family physician then consider finding one just as you are probably considering finding a paediatrician for your child.
The family Physician is a specialist whose three years of postmedical school training included education in the broad areas of medicine: child care, adult medicine, psychiatry, surgery, obstetrics, gynecology, community medicine, and preventive health care. This gives the family physician the expertise to handle well over 90% of a family’s medical needs. Continuity of care is an important aspect of family practice training. This means that the family physician is always the family’s doctor.even when consultation with another doctor is recommended, the family physician never relinquishes full responsibility for supervision of care for the family member.
A pediatrician is a specialist in child care and has undergone training with a different emphasis than that of the family practitioner. In most pediatrict training programs, much of the emphasis relates to hospitalized children, special aspects of newborn care and management, and the management of complicated childhood illness and chronic problems. The paediatrician thus has a more comprehensive background than the family practitioner for dealing with complicated problems. On the other hand, most paediatricians are reluctant to treat adult illness, and they gave less training than family physicians in assessing overall health needs and in providing continuity of care
In other words, there are advantages and disanvantages to any specialistyou choose to care for you child,. The choice you make will depend on many individual factors for instance, convenient location, reccomendations of friend, recommendations of other physicians, helat needs of the rest of you family, etc.
However, whether you choose a family physician or a paediatrician, find a doctor and estabilish a relationship before your child is born
FINDING THE DOCTOR
Finding a doctor for your child is not always an easy task. If you are seeing an obstetrician then ask for his/her recommendations. Another way of getting some names of doctors is to ask reliable friends who takes care of their children whether or not they are pleased with the care being given. You can also ask physicians in training at your local hospital or ask some of the nursing staff who they might recommend or which physician takes care of their children. These people have an excellent opportunity to observe activities of physicians affiliated with the hospital.
Less discriminating ways of obtaining names of physicians include using the phone book or calling the local medical society. Societies do not recommend anyone in particular but rather provide a list of members who take of children and are taking new patients. Some areas have consumer oriented directories of the local medical care providers and available services. Such a directory may be quite helpful.
CHECKING THE DOCTOR’S CREDENTIALS
Once some physicians name have been obtained you should check their credentials. You can check credentials with the local medical society, a national directory of medical specialist which most libraries have, or call the doctor’s secretary. First, make sure your doctor is licensed (this is usually required by state law). Second, find out what school he/she attended and when. Younger physicians often have more time to spend with their patients. A physician from an American medical school is likely to have received a good education. So too are physicians from the major industrialized nations medical school. Third, investigate the doctor’s training to determine if internship, residency, and in some cases, fellow-ship training were done in the specialty being practiced. Again, look for physicians who trained in American programs. Another important aspect of evaluating a physicians who are board-certified must have had a certain number of years training and have passed a special examination. A board-eligible physician is usually a younger physicians who has not yet taken the examination but otherwise has the specified training.
DOES THE DOCTOR FULFILL YOUR FAMILY NEEDS
You want a doctor in a convenient location with suitable office hours. Can appointments be obtained right away for urgent problems or within several weeks for routine preventive child care? Find Out whether or not the doctor has hospital privileges. This can be done by calling the administrator of the local hospital. Another important aspect of choosing a doctor for your child is to evaluate the partners or associates, since in an emergency they will have to be trusted just like your child’s own physician. Call the doctor’s office and ask about the more routine charges so that you may determine if the doctor is affordable by your family.
ESTABLISH A RELATIONSHIP
Once you have selected a physicians for your child make a get acquainted appointment for the whole family. If you are expecting your first child, meet the doctor before delivery. If you have specific concerns, write them down. This will help keep your thoughts organized and you will be less likely to forget the things you really wanted an answer to.