Are you expecting your first little one, are you new to the Kendall and Miami area, or have you recently joined TopLine MD Alliance? If so, I know that many parents and parents-to-be like you are looking for the best pediatrician in the Kendall area. And choosing the best pediatrician in miami for your family is an extremely important decision that you definitely shouldn’t take lightly. It goes without saying that parents like you are proactively involved and concerned with your children’s ongoing healthcare and medical needs. You want to find a good pediatrician who will be your partner in caring for your children until they reach adulthood. But with so many different pediatric practices in our area, with all your friends and family recommending a variety of doctors, are you wondering how to choose a pediatrician? Through my 20 plus years of experience offering the best pediatrics in Miami, FL, I’ve narrowed down a list of three core areas to guide families like yours on how to find a good pediatrician. Continue reading for my suggestions.
Your family’s pediatrician will be an important partner in your journey as a parent. He or she will be:
- The one to do newborn checkups.
- The physician who attends to the busy schedule of well-checks and immunizations during your child’s first two years of life.
- Screen your children to make sure they are meeting developmental milestones.
- Care for your child when he or she becomes sick.
- Help guide you on important tween and teen health issues such as teen mental health.
You can contact my pediatric practice at (305) 614-6429 to learn more about my core values on these topics, and more. To find the best pediatrics in Miami, FL, I strongly recommend you search for a pediatrician whose healthcare values and beliefs are closely aligned with your own.
For example, having practiced pediatrics in our area for more than 20 years, I’ve seen the true benefits of sticking to the vaccination guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC). In fact, as I state on my website’s home page, I believe that vaccinating children and young adults is the single most important thing I can do as a healthcare provider to children. Look at the outbreaks of Measles, for example, in recent years in states including California, New York, and along the Oregon/Washington state border. Dangerous outbreaks like these are preventable when healthy children who aren’t immunocompromised get their immunizations on the recommended schedules. While a small number of children have underlying health conditions this prevents them from being vaccinated. When all healthy children are immunized, our communities achieve herd immunity. We have a very strong resistance against these preventable, and sometimes deadly, diseases.
Make Sure Your Chosen Pediatrician Offers a Variety of Pediatric Services and Can “Grow with Your Family” As Your Children Get Older
Sometimes, when parents are wondering how to choose a pediatrician, they’re focused on the healthcare that will be provided to their infants and toddlers. But it’s important to also remember that pediatricians like myself see children from birth to 18 years of age, and sometimes even up to 21 years of age. Your child’s healthcare needs are going to be drastically different when she is six months old to when she is 16 years old. As your children grow over the years, our parent-child/physician relationship will evolve as well. In your children’s early years, we’ll be focused on making sure he or she meets all developmental milestones and making referrals to specialists if there are any developmental concerns, as well as sticking to the recommended vaccination schedules.
Once your children are in elementary school, they’ll only need well-check visits once a year. However, they’ll be surrounded by so many germs at school! My role as one of the best pediatricians in the Kendall area is to help you come up with a strategy to fight off germs before they get your children sick. This includes teaching your children about the importance of regular and thorough handwashing, which is proven to be one of the best defenses to stop the spread of colds and viruses. When your children reach puberty, our relationship will transform again. One area of pediatrics that I’m extremely passionate about is teen mental health. According to the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI), 20% of teens ages 13-18 live with a mental health condition. Knowing that, statistically speaking, One in every five of my teenaged patients has a mental health condition – which they may not fully understand or be able to express their symptoms to you in order to get help – is extremely concerning to me. That’s why I make it a priority in my practice to screen all my teenage patients for depression, anxiety, and other mental health diagnoses.
If You’re Wondering How to Choose a Pediatrician, My Best Advice is to Interview Him or Her First
I’ve saved my best piece of advice for finding the best pediatrics in Miami, FL for last. Make sure that after you narrow down your choices for a family pediatrician to interview each physician before you select one for your family and transfer your children into his or her care. While you may feel like it’s odd to interview a doctor, the truth is, we interview all sorts of professionals before we decide to work with them. For example, if you manage people at work, you interview new hires before bringing them onto your team. And if you are going to buy or sell a house, you’re likely to interview potential Realtors before deciding with whom to work. The same should be true when choosing a pediatrician for your children. It’s important to meet with your prospective pediatrician before you choose him or her so you can understand his or her communication style and bedside manner, priorities of care, and learn more about his or her pediatric practice. In fact, it’s so common for expectant parents to interview baby doctor pediatrician before their babies arrive, that I set up prenatal appointments to meet with moms and dads very frequently.
Important questions to ask when you’re interviewing pediatricians include:
- How many years have you been in practice?
- What is your policy on vaccinations?
- Do you have any specialties (which is of particular importance for special needs families)?
- What do you love the most about being a pediatrician?
- What advice do you have for me given my children’s current ages and stages?
By having this type of open and honest conversation with prospective physicians for your children, you’ll be able to find the best match for you and your family’s specific needs.
When Wondering How to Find a Good Pediatrician, Always Go with Your Parental Instincts
To summarize my advice above, the best thing you can do when it comes to choosing a pediatrician for your family is to stick to your mommy or daddy instinct. By searching for a pediatrician whose healthcare values align with yours, who has a practice proven to grow with your family as your children age, and by interviewing potential pediatricians, your internal parental instincts will help you single out the best doctor for your children. I am specialty certified in Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine by the American Board of Pediatrics and the Florida Board of Medicine. Feel free to contact me and schedule an appointment.
