Choosing a Pediatrician

Choosing a pediatrician proved to be a little more challenging than I originally anticipated. If only my OBGYN, Dr. Rachel Kurian of Women’s Health Alliance (client Allison Stitsworth, C.N.M. is a certified nurse-midwife at the same practice) or our veterinarian, Dr. Ronald Vaughn, could be our pediatrician, my decision would have been so much easier!

At my first prenatal appointment my OBGYN gave us a list of referrals. I started interviewing pediatricians, in the following order, several weeks ago. 

• Baylor Pediatric Center 
• Pediatric Associates of Dallas (PAD) 
• Clinical Pediatric Associates 
• Woodhill Pediatric Associates 
• Pediatricians of Dallas (POD) 

All of the practices offer complimentary prenatal interviews during lunchtime. All but one (Baylor Pediatric Center is located on Park Lane) are located off of Walnut Hill. All offer Saturday hours, one offers evening hours, and one even offers Sunday hours. All, except for Woodhill Pediatric Associates, are group practices, and separate sick child, well child, and newborn waiting rooms are available at all five offices. 

Initially, I began by asking many of the questions on the following pediatrician interview sheet: http://www.babycenter.com/0_pediatrician-family-doctor-interview-sheet_1452019.bc

Most importantly, I wanted to know about hospital affiliation (I was hoping for a pediatrician that has privileges at Baylor since that’s where we’re delivering), coverage after-hours, suggested parenting and sleep training methods, and views on immunizations, circumcision, and breastfeeding. After several visits, however, I realized that many of my most important criteria could not be answered this way. 

Ultimately, my decision came down to a gut feeling, as well as similarity in views on child rearing, eagerness to walk us through, as first-time parents, each developmental stage, best fit personality wise, and how I felt about the office environment. 

All five of the offices I visited are staffed with exceptionally well-qualified pediatricians with many years of experience. Everyone was incredibly helpful and eager to answer any, and all, of my questions. And given that four of the five offices are located in the same medical complex, the office environments had a fairly similar feel. In addition, there was something unique about each practice that was inviting. 

The pediatrician I interviewed at Baylor Pediatric Center is very well-educated and has over 20 years of experience. I also appreciated the affiliation with the Baylor Health Care System since both my OBGYN and Dermatologist practice at Baylor. 

The pediatrician I interviewed at PAD is young, energetic, and comes highly recommended from a friend and fellow Pure Barre client. PAD has privileges at Baylor and also offers weekday evening hours, which is helpful if you are a working mom. 

The office environment at Clinical Pediatric Associates is relaxing, the practice offers Sunday hours, and the pediatrician I interviewed there also has years of experience. Additionally, he drew my attention to potential complications I should be aware of immediately following delivery such as feeding difficulties, jaundice, and low APGAR scores. 

The staff at Woodhill Pediatrics is warm and welcoming. Dr. Larry Gray, the sole practitioner, has years of experience and his friendly, but calm demeanor, immediately put me at ease. It was clear that this practice respects the parent-doctor relationship and aims to work with the parent as the child grows and develops. 

That said, there was something about my visit to Pediatricians of Dallas that felt like it was exactly what I had been looking for. The office environment is incredibly calm, decorated with model boats, nautical artwork, and a large fish tank. There were magazines and books for the children to read and only one television, quietly playing “Toy Story.” I was immediately put at ease by Dr. Hillary Lewis’ warmth, eagerness to educate us as parents on her philosophy of practicing evidence based medicine, love for, and first hand knowledge of (as a new mom herself), children, as well as her general views on parenting, breastfeeding, sleep training, and making your own baby food. POD also has lactation consultants on staff available to help the breastfeeding mom. It’s icing on the cake that she, or another physician from the practice, will be available to visit us in the hospital post-delivery!

I know that I would have been in good hands with any of the pediatricians I interviewed. There is something to be said, however, for continuing to search for that right fit. I couldn’t have told you after the first four interviews exactly what I felt was missing, but after visiting POD, I knew right away that I wanted to place the health care of our child in the hands of this practice.