Every parent tries his level best in giving the finest possible upbringing to his child. They try to provide every possible thing that could bring smile to their loved ones. But often, parents fail in giving their children a required medical care at the peak time of their development. This badly affects their future growth. Parents, usually are confused at choosing a perfect pediatrician for their child. Here are some useful tips for the same:
1. Recommendations
Our local experts: friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers etc. recommend doctors to us. Thing is we shouldn’t just blindly follow them, we must check them first on our own way. After all, you are giving your child’s health responsibility to him/her. One must check carefully whether the recommended doctor is suitable or not!
2. Within your reach
Doctor’s office must be near to your home. Better choose a pediatrician having office at a place, where you can reach easily.
3. Doctor’s attitude
As a pediatrician, you need someone, who in collaboration with you, ensures your child’s best medical care. Better interview doctor first and figure out some crucial issues: Does doctor enjoy treating the child? Does your child feels comfortable with him? Does he welcome your doubts, questions? Check whether he is paying his attention to discussion or not. Suppose you have chosen a pediatrician, but you are not comfortable in discussing things with him. That will not go well. If doctor is not okay at this issue, you seriously need to see another doctor.
4. Background check
You need to know about doctor’s background as well: Where doctor pursued his degree, residency training etc.? How many years he has spent in serving the patients? These give a correct knowledge about doctor’s status in the field.
5. Appointment schedule
Identify how easy is to make an appointment with the doctor you’re planning to continue with. What if emergency occurs at midnight when office is closed? Figure out whether treatment is restricted to office hours or it can be extended till last patient. Also, see that there is a proper arrangement of picking and returning your calls or not.
6. Emergency Situations and Admit issues
Ask about the present hospital appointments by the doctor if there is a need of getting hospitalized, where he is going to admit your child. In case of any complex case requiring a number of specialists, check out that your doctor appreciates coordination with other doctors or not.
7. Clinic Environment
Clinic must be properly cleaned. Does the atmosphere feels welcoming or frightening to young children? In case of waiting, do they provide toys or books? Another issue is about waiting areas. There must be separate arrangements of waiting for sick and well ones to avoid infections etc.
8. Trained Staff
Check staff is well trained and experienced.
9. Never Hesitate
Never hesitate in changing the doctor, in case you are unhappy with some issues. Your child’s health matters first!
So, follow these tips and choose a right pediatrician for your loved ones!
My wife and I are expecting soon and we are debating on which pediatrician we want to use, I think one of the biggest things to me is that someone recommends a pediatrician rather than just going to a random one. I would imagine it would be nice to have one that your friend goes to so my wife can go with a friend, I’m sure going the first time is kind of nerve wrecking. I will be sure to share this information on finding the right child health care, thanks for sharing.
You mentioned in your article that you should choose a doctor that is easy to make appointments with, and can be reached quickly in case there is an emergency. My sister is expecting a child, and I thought it would probably be wise for her to find a good pediatrician. If she could rely on the doctor for all her child’s health needs, it would be a big relief to my sister as she wouldn’t have to go looking for someone else in the case of an emergency.
It really is important to make sure that you can schedule an appointment with the pediatrician you’ve chosen, so it is great that the article brings that up. After all, there’s not much point in going through the effort of doing a background check and meeting with the pediatrician in person if there’s never a time when you can see them. Instead you should gauge how busy they usually are when you initially visit them and factor that into your decision as well.