Where Have the Good Pediatricians Gone?
In the past, pediatricians spent time with their parents and taught them both the art of parenting and the practical aspects of raising children. Now I am getting an increasing number of complaints from parents across the U.S. about their pediatricians. The primary complaint I hear is that the doctors, both men and women, seem to either know little practical pediatrics or they don’t want to take the time to teach their parents what they know. I know that many medical school and residency programs for pediatricians are geared only to the care of ill children. I am constantly amazed at some of the things parents tell me or e-mail me that they are told by their pediatricians. Yesterday I made a house call on a child whose mother had been one of my pedatric patients. The little boy was to take a long airplane flight with his parents today and they wanted to be sure his ears were o.k. since he had had a recent ear infection. After I checked the little boy’s ears, I asked the mother about he
