As a
registered nurse and longtime advocate of children's healthcare improvements,
Sherilyn Kaye Edwards is well aware of the pressures young parents face when
choosing a doctor for their children. Sherilyn Kaye Edwards has seen the cases
where the parents who have not yet selected a doctor become truly worried and
scared for their child's health in times of need. For this reason, she knows
that it is a good thing to have a doctor already picked out before your child
gets sick. Sherilyn Kaye Edwards has a few tips for choosing a good
pediatrician.
1.
Get
Some Background Information: Frequently, young parents rush into a doctor’s
office with their sick baby and have no idea what the doctor's credentials are.
Sherilyn Kaye Edwards
encourages young parents, or even soon-to-be parents, to engage in some
preliminary research before meeting a pediatrician. Utilize resources like
medical directories and the internet to find out where the doctor did their
schooling and where they conducted their residency. Knowing this background
information will give new parents a good footing to stand on when meeting the
doctor.
2.
What
Are the Hours? Frequently, doctors’ offices only have day time hours. Doctors
often will help out at local clinics and hospitals in addition to running their
own practice. While this is an admirable activity, it can make things difficult
when you have a sick child on Tuesday and your doctor is not in the office
until Thursday. Find out what the office hours are, and also learn about the
doctor's on-call policy. According to Sherilyn Kaye Edwards,
doctors will sometimes be out of the office, but have a number to contact them
in case of a truly serious illness.
3.
Check
the Attitude. Make sure that your doctor exhibits a genuine desire to help the
patients in his office. Stop by the office and talk to the doctor, the staff,
and if you are brave, a couple parents of patients. In the end, it all comes
down to whether you are comfortable with the doctor, and Sherilyn Kaye Edwards
encourages parents to not sacrifice genuine interest for the sake of distance
or cost.
Choosing a
primary care physician is hard for adults, but even more difficult when you are
choosing for your child. Sherilyn
Kaye Edwards reassures young parents that by following these steps, they
will be well on their way to having an excellent relationship with their
child's pediatrician.
Source:
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/health-management/pages/How-To-Choose-A-Pediatrician.aspx
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