pediatrician shopping

Like all good parents, we want the best for our kid. That has meant that we do everything we can to ensure a good / safe pregnancy, finding a good OB doctor / hospital, getting the best / safest baby products, etc.

The next step is to find a pediatrician that we are both happy with, likes kids, has kids, will like our kid, is available/flexible, etc. etc. Complicating this search is that we're relatively new to the area and don't know lots and lots of people with kids. Add to that the lack of an amazon.com like rating guide for services....Makes the overall search a bit more challenging.

Nonetheless, we did meet a handful of doctors recommended by both office colleagues and the pre-natal classes. We came armed with our lists of things to look for a in a doctor with whom one might expect our child to grow older with. One clear change in medicine i think, at least from when i was a kid-- is the increase in group practices. Rather than singular doctors, multiple doctors may see your kid through the practice. While you can plan to meet with your preferred / favorite doctor for scheduled appointments -- for emergencies, it could be anyone in the practice. For both the doctor and the patient this has enormous benefits, but you do loose some of the personal interaction you might have had in the past.

Meeting with the doctors was pretty basic -- what can you really ask them? We had some standard questions, but until you see the interaction between doctor and child, i think it is hard to make a fully informed decision.

Making things easier, the doctor who had us wait for 30 min before we left was the first one off the list. Yes I understand that doctors get backed up, but maybe it's because i went to an Ops centric school that I cannot stand such things. We felt better about ditching the doctor when the receptionist said "he isn't going to like that" when we left the office before meeting with the doctor. Whatever - my time is just as valuable.

In the end, we've settled with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia which has the unfortunate acronym of CHoP.