Monday, January 21, 2008

Finding a Pediatrician

One major task on our to-do list is finding a pediatrician. This seems so strange to me b/c you have to try and find a doctor that fits your children's needs...when you don't even know your children yet. And how do you interview a doctor? I mean, I have questions people suggest you ask, but really, you can't tell until you get your kids in there and see how they interact with them. It's like hiring a new employee...sort of. The main things to check is how do they handle weekend/holiday emergencies and do they take time with your children or try to rush you in and out.

We are so blessed that Young's company will be picking up the twins, so they don't have do go on my Kaiser. There are some things I like about Kaiser but some things I don't. Then you are supposed to find referrals from friends with kids...did that and none of their doctors are in the insurance plan that we will be in. Now it's down to printing out a list of doctors from the plan and seeing which ones are in a close location to our house...that narrows it down to about 30 doctors. All the doctors have a specialty, meaning cardiology, asthma, neurologist, etc. Who knows if we'll need these??

So I select a few, do some online research and just start calling their offices. Is it a bad sign when when you leave a message and they don't call you back?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

hmm..my first thought was that if your call isn't returned, it may be a busy admin who hasn't called you back...

then I realized that the interaction you have with them is probably typical of what it might be like if you're a patient of theirs and need to reach someone. would that doctor's office be quick to respond to patients' needs?

selecting a doctor is no easy thing...but can you change if you need to?

Anonymous said...

Sara,

I think you will know which doctor to pick when you meet them. I interviewed a lot of doctors and was beginning to feel overwhelmed. I felt like I liked all of them. Then I walked into a pediatricians office and this feeling came over me. I knew I had found the right doctor. Listen to your gut. You can still tell a lot by how they interact with you. My advice would be to choose a doctor that takes your opinions and thoughts into consideration. After all, you know your kids better than they ever will. PRAY ABOUT IT!!!

Good luck.

I miss you, and can't wait until your little ones are born. It is such an honor to be a mom!!!!!

Love,
Lauren Gore

Sarah Woodruff said...

I can't believe you haven't had the babies yet! I am so proud of you!! (well.. your body and God, really...) I just thought I would check in from NC and see if they were here yet and WOW... Anyways- yeah... they should call you back. At least to tell you that they got your call.

Anonymous said...

don't worry, you can always switch if you don't like the pediatrician later. you should have lots of options since 75% of the peds in the city are around laurel heights.