Switching to a Family Physician Instead of a Pediatrician

Whatever you are comfortable with. My 17yo daughter still goes to the Pedi!! I asked him this summer when we make the transition and he said when she goes to college in another town and has to find a new doc!!

Hi C.,
unless there is a monetary reason for changing I would stay with the Pedi for a little longer.
Most family physicians are excellent with younger children but the Pedi has specialized and is more uptodate with the newest treatments of little ones.
good luck and blessings

I found a dr who sees all ages from birth through geriatrics. She's a great dr and it's so nice getting everyone seen at the same time (especially if we all have the same illness!)

S., mom to 4 littles

My 14 month old son was recently diagnosed with a platelet disorder. When I took him to the pediatrician, she knew what it was instantly due to a strange looking "rash" he had all over his body (turned out to be broken blood vessels under his skin, but looked like little red dots all over him). I can't say that a FP would not have known what it was since we didn't go to one, but this disorder is usually seen in children, so the Pedi knew it right away just by sight. She sent us to the ER at the Children's Hospital because he was pretty serious by that point. I am thankful that he was seeing a pediatrican because I don't know if a FP would have recognized it so easily if they aren't used to working with infants and toddlers. I agree with what a lot of the others have said about how comfortable you are with the FP. If you have had really good experiences with them and you feel like they have the knowledge to treat your child appropriately, then go for it. If you aren't sure, stick with the pedi until at least school age. It's tough when babies are small and they can't vocalize what's wrong with them. By the time kids get to kindergarten, they can usually tell you what is hurting better than a toddler and I think at that point, I might be more comfortable seeing a FP as opposed to a Pedi. Good luck with your decision.

I never went to a pediatrician. Always went to a family practioner with both of mine. Would have gone to a pediatrician if either of them developed something serious, but if your kids are healthy, I feel a family practioner should be able to handle everything else. Lots of luck. My two are 15 months apart. Can't imagine having twins plus another a year later. U R Brave!!!!!!

kids have to be 2 to be seen by most family physicians though some will make exceptions if they are close and healthy and the whole family already goes there

C.,
My daughters are 7 & 9 and I still take them to a pediatrician, I prefer this because that is there specality they can diagnos things for the children area that a family physician would usually look over. But if you are comfortable with the change I don't think there is a correct age.

I grew up with a family physician and I'm normal and healthy. I think my mom still goes to the guy.

As long as the doctor knows what he is doing, you like him, he has a 24 hour phone number go for it.

Just for reference I do love my sons ped doctor and will keep him there until they make us leave...I wish she was a family doctor.

I know all too well about this discussion. When my daughter was born, she saw our family physician while she was still in the hospital. She was healthy. We decided to continue to have her see him. The pediatric clinic was farther away than the clinic with our f.p. My husband and I sought medical advice from him and liked his style. He is a physician that prays. I had comfort in that fact. IF she were to have anything that the f.p. was not certain of, we would consult a pediatrician. People have different opinions on this topic. If you like and respect the judgment of your f.p. then make it easier and have the entire family see the same doctor. All the best, Danabeth

I grew up with my Mom working for a Family Practitioner. They are fine for most things, but rarely saw small children. I asked him once why that was and he said that Pediatricians SPECIALIZE in children, while Family and General Practitioners don't. They generalize. I would highly recommend sticking with a Pediatrician until the kids are early teens. If you just don't like the Dr you have now, there are plenty more out there. In fact, if you are in Houston, shoot me an email and I can recommend a fantastic one! She saw my daughter from the day of her birth til she turned 14. I'd still be going to her now, but daughter says she's too old for a "baby" Dr!

I would take them to whichever doc you feel most confident in their medical judgment. Just because they're a pedi, doesn't mean they are the best.

My children saw a ped. at birth and for the yearly check-ups and shots. They saw the local GP when they were sick, because we live in a small city that is an hour away from the big city medical center. The GP can always fit in the sick child, and you want it taken care of right then.
When my son was a baby, we took him to the local ER and was seen by the 'visiting' doctor on call & given one type of med. When we called the ped. in the morning, he completely changed everyhing. So you never know.
We were comfortable with this arrangement, and once they started school, we stayed local.

C.,
I have 4 older children & three young ones. My oldest 4 always saw our family physician, & we never encountered any problems. My 3 youngest see a pediatrician simply because our new FP doesn't see children under the age of 3.
If he did, I would have stuck with him, so that our entire family could see one Dr. I personally think its totally whatever you are comfortable with. If you choose your FP & happen one day not to be satisfied with a diagnosis you can always get an appt with a Ped. And go for a second opinion and , or switch over.

Well, obviously there are good and bad Doctors in every type of practice. I would however find a good pediatrician. I have a friend whose baby received adult doses of a medicine by mistake at a family physicians office because they have both adult and childrens meds on their shelves....easy mistake to make and it doesn't mean they are bad doctors. I just think a pediatrician will be so much more knowledgeable and current on the things that effect children. Many sicknesses show up with different symptoms in adults vs. children. It's kind of like visiting the Emergency Room..the Doctor is trained a little in every area of medicine, but doesn't specialize in one area. If my heart is having problems...I really want to see a cardiologist!

I think it all depends on the doctors. We've been taking out girls (3 years and 5 weeks) to a FP since they were born. We choose to see him instead of a pediatrician because we really like the FP that my husband and I see. When we went to ask him for pediatrician recommendations for our first, he said he could give us some names, but also that he's specialized in Pediatrics. Since we like him and his style so much, we figured he'd be a good choice for our daughters. With that said, if we didn't know him and like him so much as a doctor, we probably would have our girls at a pediatrician.

My little one has been seeing a family physician since birth and we've never had any problems. I loved our family physician so much and quite frankly, I couldn't find anyone in town that seemed very excited about their pedi, so I had a very frank discussion about this with our family doctor when I was 6 months pregnant. I learned that our family physician spent a large portion of his residency studying under a pediatrician so that made me feel tons better. Our family doctor stays up on and follows the AAP recommendations and guidelines. I've never worried about "serious" illness or anything like that simply because if there were something serious, a pediatrician or a family doctor would most likely refer you to a pediatric specialist anyway. Hope this helps you!

Leslie B. made a good point.
But I feel more comfortable with a pediatrician....obviously, find a good one, they are not all the same.

My reasoning is this....a pediatrician has spent extra time in medical school to focus on just children.
An FP needs to keep up on all ages including the elderly. This means they have knowledge on a vast number of areas such as OB GYN, cardiology, internal medicine, etc. etc.

I'd rather have a doctor have a deep knowledge of one specific speciality than see a general one who may know a little about a lot of things. Does that make sense?
You know.....Jack of all Trades, Master of None.

This isn't to insult FP's, I go to one and I know there are fantastic ones out there. It's just my opinion.

Doctors have a lot of info. to keep up on a regular basis. I'd be more comfortable with one who focuses on children and just children, not the entire patient population.

I personally would not recommend doing that as a pedi specializes in children's illness, etc and a family dr doesn't necessarily. It would be sort of like seeing the family dr for your annual well women exam.

I grew up going to a family practitioner and turned out fine. In fact, the little town I grew up in, at the time, only had family practs, there were no pedis, ob/gyn, etc. I was delivered by our family pract, as were my brother and sister. Pedis do serve a purpose of only seeing children. But, if you have a family pract. that you love, they are just a qualified as the pedi to doctor your children.

We switched from a pediatrician to family physician when my daughter was about 2. We switched for various reasons, but some of the main reasons were the fact that our family physician explained things better, listened to what we had to say and was actually better with our daughter. After having the doctor leave before I could process his response and ask questions too many times, we switched. The final straw for me (took longer for husband) was when my daughter's ear drum burst and he said this, prescribed the antibiotic and was out the door in about 3 minutes. He did not take the time to explain anything about the eardrum and acted as if it was an every day occurence (to a first time mom, this was not an everyday thing). I finally called my family physician and had them tell me what was going on with her ear. We did this often.

It was the family physician that finally refered us to the ENT for constant ear infections. We had tubes put in and adenoids taken out within 2 months and had 2 infections in 2 years (we had 1 a month before the tubes).

We have since moved and she again sees a pediatrician, who has these same wonderful qualities as our last family physician.

We were told that after a year it was fine to switch. Our family physician saw lots of children and we were fortunate to live near her, so she was also a friend.

Which ever you see, you need to have a trusting relationship with the doctor. If you trust your family physician then that is who I would see.

J.

Family physicians know a lot about treating patients of all ages, but they do not specialize in pediatric conditions which means they may not be up-to-date with the latest research and training. This is somewhat equivilant to going to a family physician rather than an OB/GYN. If it is feasible to keep the pediatrician, I would do so given the ages of your children.

Hi C.,
I wanted to let you know about another type of doctor you could look for. My brother did his specialty in both Pediatrics and Internal Medicine. It is called 'Med/Peds.' He practiced as a family physician for many years. He is now working in an ER. If you can find a Med/Peds doctor, you will have the best of both worlds...someone who specializes in children, but can also treat adult diseases. I don't think they are terribly common--the specialty has only been around for the last 20 years or so--but if you could find one I think you'd be comfortable taking your children there and seeing him/her yourself. Good luck!

Hi C.,

Personally, I'd stick with the pediatrician for as long as I could. My daughter has some serious health issues and everyone in the office is familiar with her history so that's where we feel comfortable. A friend of mine recently switched to a FP because her 3 kids (14, 10, 5) were always getting colds/strep throat/etc and passing it around to each other. Her pediatrician required EACH child to have their own appt but the FP didn't. The FP would check whichever kids she brought in and would give them a Rx, if needed, with only 1 appt. It made a world of difference for her, time and $$ wise. If this isn't an issue for you though, I'd stick with the pediatrician. :)

Food for thought... When my daughter was 15 months, she injured herself. It was in the evening after her pediatrician's office closes. So I took her to my family doctor. They did not have the right size equipment to give her stitches; she was too small. We were redirected to Children's Hospital.

I would stay with your pediatrician until your kids are at least over age 5. A Pediatrician's office would have the appropriately sized tools and equipment on hand.

Hello C.,
You have received some generous and wonderful advice. Please just keep in mind that Pedi's do have that additional 2+ year specialized residency training that a General practitioner does not. True, a seasoned GP/FP will have practical experience (if they have been in practice for awhile) but why take the chance? You have received a few responses about GP/FP taking more time, etc. Trust me, the GP/FP is a dying breed. The best and the brightest coming out of Medical school typically go on to specialize these days... A person who comes straight out of med school can practice as a GP and typically only receive a few "rotations" in Pediatrics.
That said, I would take a great FP over a bad pedi any day. Ultimately, we decided to take our children to the very best Pedi. we could find...and it took me about a year to find her :) Good luck with your decision.

All 3 of my kids have seen a family physician since birth.

From birth my children went to our family doctor, the doctors all have the same medical training. It has worked out so well.

I even use my family doctor for my annual check up.