The Pediatrician?

I chose a pediatrician after seeing her picture in the newspaper . She is a woman, heavyset that is new here...I thought that her credentials seemed good and went ahead and scheduled our appointments for next week.



Unfortunately....I met her at the party. She just seemed really strange We were making smalltalk and I mentioned that the kids had an appt. to see her next week and she just sort of grunted at me and never responded. I thought she didn't hear me, so I said it again and she just looked at me with this "who cares" expression. I thought...maybe I shouldn't have said something at the party? But it was just a friendly social comment? She was at our dinner table and carried on about the fact that the only reason that she did peds was to avoid demented old people and that her training had been in a hospital that catered to minorities...her comments:"I can tell a rash on a black kid, but when a white kid comes into my office, I have to get an attending now"



OK...call me a nut, but I thought the comments were just plain innapropriate and I'm having serious second thoughts about having my children see her...particularly because my son has some special needs.........



Any thoughts?



Kris

kris - i would find someone else. if you do not feel comfortable with this woman (and it definitely sounds as if you don't, with good reason!!), your kids will be able to feel this anxiety - and i always hated going to the doc as a child. so when my mom finally dragged us there, it was nice to see a calming, cheery doc that genuinely loved little ones!

[houseelf]

I agree, can her. You need to feel that your doctor is responsive, caring, and clued into reality. Her actions belie that fact that she exhibits none of these attributes. Good luck in finding a new doc.



Kelly

I would cancel the appointment and find another doc. Do you know other parents in the neighborhood or elsewhere that you could ask? Maybe they'll know of someone fantastic. Unfortunately, the fantastic ones usually do not take new patients. I'd get Thomas to call and ask the doc if he/she would see his children. Call in the "professional courtesy" favors whenever you need them! Doctors will see other doctor's families out of professional courtesy.



Good luck in the search. You'll be using the pediatrician for a lot of years, so it's important to get a good one.

[Meenah]

I would cancel yesterday.

Luanne

[DCJenn]

Kris-



Run like the wind....



I can't imagine a pediatrician who could think like that. Everyone in Rick's department has their own particular interests but the one commonality is that they all like kids. (Which is a good thing, if you work with them all day!)



Cancel and move on. (



Jenn



but don't feel bad, I once picked a doc based on the fact that her name was 'Tracie' and I figured she couldn't be that old if her name ended in 'ie'. It worked.

I am a little slow in responding due to being sick so my comments might already be too late but I agree with everyone else. CANCEL!!!! It is so traumatic for kids when they have a doctor that they don't like and they can tell if the doctor likes them or not. RUN as fast as you can!!!! Parents of your kids' friends would be a good resource.



Robin

Thanks...



I cancelled, but I felt guilty doing it...I felt like I would be hurting her feelings, so I told them that our car was broken and that I'd call back later to reschedule....



I wonder how many of us would switch docs if we met our physician at a social function....hmmmmmm



So I'll be talking to our neighbors to find out who to go to....I really dislike starting over finding new doctors, dentists, etc..I think it is the hardest part of moving for me.



Kris
Edited by: kmmath  at: 10/10/01 8:22:37 am

[Meenah]

Kris,

Ask your husband to go to the pediatric floor of his hospital and ask the head nurse for advice on a good, approachable pediatrician. THEN Go to the ER and ask the nurses there which pediatricians are the best about coming to the ER to see their own patients, rather than dumping it on the ER. Don't ask other docs, they are clueless.

Luanne

[Meenah]

Kris,

Any luck with finding a new pediatrician?

Luanne

No...Not yet...Thomas is going to talk to the peds nurses...he just hasn't done it yet...I'm thinking.....he probably won't ...he tends to..procrastinate these things....I'm going to ask the neighbors...thanks for reminding me..I needed that little kick in the hiney!



Kris