26 Questions to Ask When Interviewing a Pediatrician during your pregnancy
When I am putting together my content for my Birth Photography clients, I am often focusing on pregnancy and birth, but the postpartum period of a new mother and father’s parenting journey is as as vital of a time to receive support and preparation for. Below, I have accumulated 26 questions that may benefit you when interviewing several Pediatricians during your pregnancy in Boca Raton and the surrounding areas (Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Jupiter, West Palm Beach, Parkland, Coral Springs, Fort Lauderdale and more) during your pregnancy.
Where to begin? I recommend to interview at least 2-3 pediatric practices during your pregnancy
Why 3 practices? It’s worth it to interview at least 2 pediatricians during your pregnancy, that way, if you have a questionable experience with one of them, but you’re not quiet sure if thats the “standard” at pediatricians offices in Boca Raton, or if you’re not quiet sure what exactly felt off, having a better experience with a second pediatricians office may help you identify what you did and did not like about each. Various experiences can also help you narrow down what exactly you are looking for in a pediatrician, since that can sometimes be difficult to identify if you’ve never raised a child before, you may not know what will become important to you during your baby’s first year of life and beyond, with regards to your baby’s pediatrician. If you interview three different pediatricians, you have a higher chance to finding someone you really like. But I recommend doing your research ahead of time, so you narrow all your choices down to about 3. Sometimes going out into the field and interviewing with 5 or 6 different offices can end up making you feel exhausted, overwhelmed and confused by all the experiences.
WHEN MAKING PHONE CALLS TO PEDIATRICIANS, WHAT DO I SAY?
TERMINOLOGY/VERBIAGE
When calling Pediatricians Practices, you may find it helpful to use some of the following terminology to schedule an interview:
I am currently pregnant and interested in meeting Dr. Anne Smith for an interview during my pregnancy. I have Aetna Insurance, do you accept that insurance? And do you offer meet and greets before we are a patient of Dr. Smith’s?
I encourage you to do research (read google reviews, pediatricians websites, zocdoc, healthgrades, yelp reviews) and do in-person interviews with the very least two to three pediatric practices that you are seriously considering for your newborn’s care in South Florida
The trouble with Mommy Facebook groups
While mommy groups on Facebook are a good starting point to identify who the top recommended pediatrician practices in the Boca Raton and South Florida area are, keep in mind that the more moms and dads recommending a specific pediatrician practice, the longer the wait times may be. That is the downside of promoting your pediatrician practice if you love it, once enough people get wind of how awesome the doctors at your pediatrician practice are, more people will come to your pediatrician office and you may be left with longer wait times and less availability.
Another issue I have personally found with moms in Facebook groups recommending their pediatrician’s practice is that every mom has different priorities and values.
LONG LOBBY WAITS For one mom, how long the wait in the lobby at the pediatrician’s office may be the priority as she has a tight schedule and little availability to be waiting an hour in the lobby.
AVAILABILITY WHEN MAKING APPOINTMENTS Another mom may not mind a long wait as long as her baby’s pediatric practice has a lot of availability whenever she makes an appointment.
SICK VISITS Another mom may prioritize how quickly she can make an appointment for sick visits with her pediatrician, while yet another mom’s priority is simply to make sure that sick children waiting on their appointments in the lobby are not in the same space when she comes in for a well visit.
So while tallying up how many moms commented with their pediatrician’s name in the local facebook groups such as Boca Raton Moms Connect (Dads and Non Parents welcome) or Moms of Coral Springs/Coconut Creek/Parkland, FL, can be helpful to know which pediatrics practices in Boca Raton are recommended and most popular that you may want to research and interview with, it is equally as important for you to remember when reaching out to locally recommended pediatrics practices that every mom who recommended her pediatrician or pediatrics practice may have recommended it for entirely different reasons than you would ever even consider when searching for a pediatrician for your soon to be born baby.
So while I recommend heeding caution when seeking recommendations, I definitely still recommend for you to…
Ask your family and friends who they take their kids to see, if they like the pediatrician, if their child likes the pediatrician, and what exactly it is they like about their pediatrician. Ask specifics.
As questions such as if the pediatrician’s office is clean and well air conditioned and not claustrophobic and cramped. If they can make well and sick visits easily, if its the pediatrician who is amazing and why, ask for examples, if the office is conveniently located, etc
26 Important questions you want to ask a pediatrician with whom you are entrusting the care of your new baby:
Pre-Question 1. Do you take my insurance?
Pre-Question- when calling local South Florida pediatricians offices you always want to start by asking if the practice accepts your insurance. Because if you need to see a doctor through your insurance (sick and well visits can end up adding up to an arm and a leg) you don’t want to waste anymore of your time interviewing a practice or asking to schedule a consultation or meet and greet if they don’t accept your insurance. A great Q to ask is if they’ve ever accepted your insurance and may come back to it in the future)
Pre-Question 2. How long is an interview?
When you are scheduling the initial consultation/interview/meet and greet, be sure to ask the person scheduling it how long is the most time you will get for this initial meeting. If they say 10 minutes, that may not necessarily be the case, you may end up getting more or less time, but its good to get an idea of what the front office staff is planning, how the practice sets their expectations for meeting prospective pediatric patients parents, and then you can compare how long you actually got to the original estimation.
How long have you been in practice? (A pediatrician in practice for 20 years may be appealing to some families who want a tried and true professional. But to other families it may be a red flag that their practice is outdated and not evidence based with the latest studies, where as a pediatrician who just opened their doors last year may be a little under-qualified for your liking)
Do you have areas of specialized training? Or special interests within the field of pediatrics? (I left this question from johnmuirhealth.com in here, because I know some of my Midwifery friends specialize in care for older women or are passionate about VBACs, so I am sure micro-specialities exist in pediatrics as well.
Are you board-certified by the American Board of Pediatrics? (Board Certified means a lot to some people. Whereas for other people, it is not as much of a necessity)
Will your initial meeting with my baby be at the hospital or the first checkup and Which hospitals are you affiliated with? (This is good to know in case you need to take your baby or child to the emergency room due to covid, high fever, or any number of issues that affect young children and babies such as RSV, (respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. Young children and older adults, especially those with certain underlying health conditions, are at higher risk for severe illness from RSV.), pneumonia, etc and it’s good to know if your pediatrician can visit your child during their hospital stay. However, please note this is totally unnecessary. I’ve had numerous hospital stays with both of my kids, I always went to Broward Health Coral Springs and while yes we’ve had a pediatrician in the past who had privileges at that hospital, she never did see our kids there (though they were never kept overnight for any of their visits to the ER for which I am grateful) and the pediatricians and nurses on staff at Broward Health Coral Springs were always wonderful, compassionate, detail oriented and I couldn’t ask for more. I don’t have experience at other hospitals who serve pediatric patients, but I have a friend who is a nurse at Joe DiMaggios which is known to be a children’s hospital in Hollywood, in fact one of my past birth photography clients has a son who was treated for leukemia there, and it truly sounds like the world of pediatric care is another place, filled with patience, compassion and warmth. So if you had a baby or child staying as an inpatient for multiple days or weeks at the hospital, I do think there would be some benefit to have your pediatrician be able to stop by via having privileges there. It’s not a must for me, but for some families this may be a deal breaker (especially if you know you may be needing the NICU or having pediatric surgery immediately following birth).
What is the schedule for well-baby and well-child visits? This can help you visually plan out what the coming months will look like, and especially if you have a toddler at home who you may need to arrange care for in case you cannot manage to bring both a stroller, car seat and toddler into a pediatricians lobby / office appointment (I know this was one of the hardest experiences for me, was bringing both kids with me I wish I did not have to do that), but it can also be helpful to plan out in case you may need to have a c-section, because you cannot lift a stroller or car seat by yourself for the first 6 weeks at least (confirm the exact time frame with your OBGYN or Midwife) so if there are multiple baby visits in the first 6 weeks after birth, you’ll need someones help when going to pediatrician appointments.
What are your views on vaccinations? (Please note, most pediatricians in South Florida will not accept you as a patient if you are not vaccinating. And also some pediatricians will actually not accept you as a patient if you had a home birth, I was shocked to hear that. One of the pediatricians in Broward County who is known for taking patients who do not vaccinate happens to be a pediatrician I had past experiences with regards to one of my children - we were under this doctors care for about a month when my daughter was an infant- and those were not positive experiences, so I could not feel confident recommending that pediatrician to anyone seeking a doctor who will take you if you’re not vaccinating, just because everyone says they’re one of the only ones around who accept patients who don’t vaccinate) Please be sure to review only medical journals and medical studies (not non-medical material) when making your decisions about vaccinations.
What is your health philosophy on important topics:
Vaccinations
Strategies to support breastfeeding
Age when to introduce solids and what kinds of solids
Use of antibiotics
If you are having a boy, you want to ask the pediatrician if they do circumcisions (and if you are unsure about circumcisions, this is a great time to ask about pros/cons as well as to discuss 100% of your concerns about circumcisizing vs not circumcisizing but you also want to ask how many circumcisions the pediatrician does per month, as well as how many they’ve done in all, if the monthly amount does not answer your questions/concerns). And when it comes to circumcisions, your OBGYN or Midwife likely also does circumcisions, so you may want to ask them those questions during your next prenatal visit.
Complementary medicine (such as chiropractic care for babies and children (it is different from the scary looking adult chiropractic care) physical therapy, speech therapy, homeopathics, organics
Sleep training
Approaches to challenging behavior
Understanding How the Office is Run
8. How does your group practice work together? Some practices have 4 doctors working under the same practice name but they have their own patients, whereas other practices rotate the doctor you are seeing so everyone is up to date with the happenings of each individual patient. Other practices may have different structures so its important to ask.
9. Will another pediatrician sometimes see my child? (They may have a partner who you will definitely want to meet, or they may have completely other practitioners routinely see only sick patients, such as a nurse practitioner or a pediatrician who does not work in their office and I would want to know that because after 8 and 11 years of having two kids, I absolutely do not want to see anyone except for my kids pediatrician when they are sick, as I find that the management of illness varies drastically depending who is in charge of it and I don’t want to administer antibiotics unnecessarily just because my pediatrician wasn’t available to see my sick child and another doctor or NP decided to overprescribe them - just as an example
10. What if my baby gets sick when the office is closed? How are off-hour emergencies handled? (You definitely want to know if their philosophy is that they have a plan in place for after hour illnesses such as leave a message and they call you back within an hour or if they recommend going to a 24 hour hospital or emergency clinic if after hours, we’ve had to keep those magnets with contact info for clinics before depending who are pediatricians were in the past)
11. Do you have separate sick and well waiting rooms? (If you are going with a bigger group, this is a really important question. The practice we currently use for pediatrics has a wait in the car until we call you that your room is available policy and it works for us.
12. What tests are handled in the office, and what is done elsewhere? Where? (Some pediatricians offices do bloodwork and other tests in office. But many do not. You want to ask where they recommend going if you can’t do bloodwork in the office. Many will recommend Quest and I absolutely do not enjoy going to Quest as an adult I cannot imagine bringing my children there as most of the people waiting in the lobby are waiting on drug testing and it is such an uncomfortable atmosphere)
13. Make sure you make note of the office hours and how their office handles holidays such as Christmas, New years, as well as less big holidays like Martin Luther King Jr Day.
14. Does the practice offer video visits? (We’ve done a few of these for when it was something I didn’t need to urgently see the doctor for, including for my big kids when we were discussing anxiety diagnoses and going to school to get a 504 started, our pediatrician didn’t need to see my kids for this in person. I did not use virtual visits much at all when they were babies because I wanted the pediatrician to 100% be in person for those)
15. Does your office offer same day sick appointments?
16. Does the practice use electronic medical records?
Questions to Ask Yourself
17. Did you feel comfortable with the doctor? Did you like his or her communication style and bedside manner?
18. Was the interview rushed? Did the doctor take the time to clearly address all of your questions? A lot of Pediatricians who have TOO many patients will be able to show it here by only providing a rushed interview.
19. If you brought an older child to the consultation, or already did a pediatrician visit with your older child, did your child respond well to the doctor? Did the doctor seem compassionate and patient? (If you read my personal story with my children at the end of this post, you will see that some negative experiences from my own pediatrician visits have stayed with me my whole life, so make sure you keep that in mind when making decisions for your children that they may remember negative experiences when they are older)
20. Was the office clean?
21. Was the waiting room kid-friendly, with toys and books?
22. How long did you wait before seeing the doctor? (This may be very different once you are already an established patient)
23. How easy was it to schedule the interview? (Is the front office staff very polite, patient, compassionate and competent? I have noticed that not only in pediatrics but many other disciplines of medicine, the front office staff reflects your experience down the road with your doctor.)
24. Was the office staff helpful? Were the nurses friendly?
25. Was the office conveniently located? Did it offer adequate parking? (You will not believe how important this will become down the road!!!)
26. Ask to tour the office and meet the doctor(s) and staff. As an introverted person, I don’t think I would have ever asked this question. But now, having an 8 year old and 11 year old, I am a bit more extroverted, and knowing how much time you will be spending at well and sick visits alike, you definitely want to get a tour of the office and get introduced to all the pediatricians and office staff, write down their names (I have to do this in the notes section on my phone) because you will be getting to know everyone super well when calling with questions or follow up visits, and it is a great idea to get a head start and know you love the office and every one in it.
FEELING DISMISSED BY A PEDIATRICIAN in Boca Raton, FL
Before we finish off this important content about interviewing pediatricians, as always, I like to share my own experiences to better your future experiences as a new parent.
As a mother’s advocate, I would be remiss if I posted this content without sharing our own experiences with Pediatricians in Boca Raton at the very start of our parenting journey when our oldest daughter came down with a cold that led to bronchitis and ended up with pneumonia after a string of pediatric visits where our concerns were systematically dismissed by multiple pediatricians.
We have changed pediatrics offices 5 times in 11 years of parenting.
We started out with a West Boca female-only pediatrics practice when my first child was born 11 years ago. 11 years ago, our 3 month old came down with a what started out as a basic cold, and though it was just a small cold at the very start, she immediately started sleeping terribly and it was scary and vulnerable having an infant with a cold for the very first time in our lives, we didn’t know what to do so we scheduled a sick visit with our pediatricians office, so our infant could be seen and the doctor could make recommendations for her care.
However, the very first sick visit at the Boca Raton office at 3 months old started out with the pediatrician saying its a “wait and see” approach due to her being so young there were no medication options. We went home hopeful that this guidance from our doctor would be all we needed.
But over the course of that week, her cold got worse. She became more congested, she had more of a runny nose, a cough was developing, and the wait and see approach seemed to not be working, so we returned for another sick visit where we were told the same, to continue to wait and see.
Fast forward 3 weeks, we had multiple sick visits with our first ever pediatrician’s practice (we were seen by her and her partner at the time - both female doctors in West Boca) who repeatedly with each visit told me there are no solutions at 3 months old.
At the third sick visit when I really pressed them with desperation, this was now three weeks in, they told me that I can let her sit with me in the bathroom outside of the shower, while running the shower with hot water while she breathes as there is hot steam coming from the shower, they also said I could continue to breastfeed, but there is nothing else else I can do at 3 months old.
At the fourth visit, because nothing helped, I insisted on doing an XRAY. She wasn’t sleeping, her cold symptoms were way worse four weeks in, and because pneumonia runs in our family, my brother had pneumonia when he was an infant, I started to suspect that this is where this cold was headed, considering how bad she sounded and now she was over 4 months old. But I was met with a “no, her lungs sound clear, no need to do an XRAY.”
After half a dozen sick visits in a month, and being told like a broken record through every visit that all we can do is wait and see, while we watched our infant progressively get sicker and we expressed increasing concern during these sick visits but neither of the female pediatricians in this West Boca pediatricians office took our concerns seriously.
Thats when I turned to Facebook and asked advice, searching for a better pediatrician who would take our concerns more seriously.
Many mothers recommended a holistic pediatrician practice in Coral Springs.
I was so sleep deprived at this point, my infant was now sick for about 6 weeks, and out of desperation I made an appointment to this new pediatrician in Coral Springs who so many mothers were boasting they loved and was the best pediatrician in South Florida.
I absolutely did not experience this very recommended holistic pediatrician in the same positive light like all the moms who recommend her on Facebook did.
My very first impression was an over an hour long wait in a stuffy, sweaty, tiny, outdated, claustrophobic lobby.
The female pediatrician was glued to her laptop screen for 95% of the visit.
She recommend Benadryl for my daughters prolonged illness (6 weeks at this point).
I was so desperate, I followed this new Coral Springs pediatrician’s instructions to a T.
But to my frustration the holistic pediatrician’s instructions did not help and I was soon back in her Coral Springs office for a second and third sick visit, while my infant’s illness kept moving in a declining direction. My infant was now 5 months old, she was getting so much worse, this illness had lasted two months, but I found myself met with the plaguing words yet again: “wait and see”.
When I asked if we could do an XRAY because pneumonia runs in our family, my brother had pneumonia when he was an infant, I was met with another “no, her lungs sound clear, no need to do an XRAY.”
in 2024, I am more adamant as a parent, but I am also clear headed and not sleep deprived these days. I really really wish I could go back in time and tell myself to take my infant to the Broward Health Coral Springs Emergency room and demand an XRAY.
But back then, after 8 weeks of this, but my husband and I were so sleep deprived we were not thinking lets go to the emergency room. And to be fair to us, nobody around us (who wasn’t sleep deprived) recommended we go to the ER either.
My infant would drift off to sleep and 15 minutes later wake up screaming, and it went on this way for weeks while the pediatricians dismissed me.
Out of desperation I reached out to my sister, remembering she had a friend from Medical School who was a local pediatrician, Dr. Edna Tello, at Personalized Pediatrics, and when I called Dr. Tello for the first time, she immediately told me that she will make an appointment to see my daughter but to first take my daughter to the clinic where they would do an XRAY and test for RSV. The clinic saw us immediately, did all of our testing, called Dr. Tello with the results and we were immediately told its pneumonia. After I knew it and asked for XRAYs from doctors from two different practices who all dismissed me.
The treatment came with a nebulizer that we have owned now for 11 years and still works top notch as if we bought it today, along with medications. Within 2 weeks of treatment our daughter was at 100%. And to this day I recall this story as Dr. Tello was our super hero and she saved my daughter’s life for while I will be grateful to her forever.
While we did not stay with Dr. Tello longer than after my second child became a toddler, because we could not keep up with the fees financially of working with a concierge pediatricians practice, there were many advantages to being with a concierge pediatrician while my children were babies and toddlers.
A pro of working with a concierge pediatrician
One major pro of working with a concierge pediatrician for our family was, we were under the care of a concierge pediatrician largely during the years when our children were babies, infants or toddlers who could not communicate with us what was wrong. These were the hardest years for us, being unable to know what pain or illnesses were affecting our babies, and so my recommendation is that if you’re unsure of whether to spend the money on a concierge pediatrician, during the baby/infant/toddler stage is when you will get your money’s worth the most (from our experience — obviously every family has different circumstances).
But one disadvantage of using a concierge pediatrician for us was a small practice did not allow for us to be seen instantly any time we wanted our child to be seen for a sick visit. At times, we’d have to wait longer for callbacks and often we had to wait a few days (3 or so) for sick visits.
During the baby/infant/toddler stage is when you will get your money’s worth the most with a Concierge Pediatrician, during the ages when your baby cannot tell you what is hurting them or why they are feeling sick
Our experience with a concierge pediatrician in Boca Raton was that she was only one pediatrician working alone, which is not the case for every concierge pediatrician practice in South Florida.
We often had to wait 3 or more days to be seen for a sick visit, and
I prefer to be seen day of — or immediately the next day for a sick visit,
I am the kind of mom who doesn’t do a lot of pediatrician appointments unless its really necessary such as the annual visit, so when I want to see the doctor for my kids, its warranted and urgent.
When we left Dr. Tello’s practice, we ended up with Pediatric Associates for a long time, and I loved that this practice is open every day of the year, I like that they have many offices and they offer later office hours, as well as virtual care visits.
We absolutely loved our Nurse Practitioner at Pediatric Associates who we trusted so much (at the Coconut Creek Pediatric Associates office) for a long time.
However, we ultimately had to leave this pediatric office as well, because the lobby was always filled with 15-20 patients, sick and well patients mixed between their sick and well waiting areas, (parents were not being entirely fair/honest) and the wait times became insane and excessive. We got to the point where we were never able to see our Nurse Practitioner anymore due to lack of availability and every time we went for a well or sick visit, we saw a different pediatrician, some who when I asked when they joined the practice told me they were just working per diem or something to that effect, so not even a full time employee of the practice.
So I felt like I never could truly trust that these random part time doctors who would never see us again had my children’s best interests at heart when there was literally no way to bond with them as we were just a number in a sea of pediatric patients, and while it sounded like a big plus that they did their own blood draws in the office, the office had a second waiting room in the interior of the office for the blood draws and any other tests they did in office, and shockingly that carried with it another excessive wait time, which made appointments last 2-3+ hours for us every single time, with driving there and back it turned into half a day excursions. I feel like just you reading about our experiences sounds like a nightmare - and it was!
So at this point, this was the 4th pediatric office we had been to over the years.
The last straw with this pediatric practice was when one of my kids had a sick visit with a male pediatrician and I realized it was literally the same creepy doctor who was my pediatrician when I was a child, and I was so insanely uncomfortable with him already when I was a child, which had been 20 years ago, and now he was providing care for my child (my child who also felt like he was a totally creepy old man) and I just snapped and said thats it I am done. I left the practice and I never looked back.
I am thrilled to say that we have been in a cozy small pediatric female owned practice for the last 4 or so years now. I won’t share the name though I love it, because its grown so much by word of mouth over the last few years that wait times are increasing and I am seeing our pediatrician getting a tad bit worn out, and its becoming a little harder to see just her and not be recommended for an appointment with the NP or the partner pediatrician. So I am going to take my word of mouth recommendations out of the mix so as to not draw more attention their way. But it is getting much easier to have two pediatric patients that I need a pediatrician for at these ages. 5 practices and 11 years later, we are finally content.
