Associated Pediatricians help patients find the right pediatrician

A significant part of parenting lies in finding medical care for children that both parents and their children can trust. When looking at the bigger picture, many small details in the process can get lost or murky, leading to unnecessary and exacerbated stress.

Associated Pediatricians seeks to help parents understand the finer details of the process and provide specific details or qualities to look for throughout the process of finding the right pediatrician.

Pediatric care is especially important for children, as the formative nature of childhood and adolescence can pave the way for adulthood. Child patients cannot be treated the same way as adult counterparts, requiring more fine-tuned expertise.

Dr. Dianna Brogan, pediatrician and practice owner with Associated Pediatricians, understands how medical training plays an important role in how pediatricians can address the needs of children.

“Babies and children are not little adults, so you want a pediatrician, not just a general practitioner,” Brogan said. “You want somebody who has done all the extra training and has the experience.”

Following medical school, pediatricians focus the entirety of their three-year residencies on medical care for children. Other doctors, including family practitioners, might focus on child healthcare for only a few months out of their three-year residences. While both practitioners have some sort of experience with children, the difference in time spent studying can have an impact on the ability for a practitioner to meet the specific needs of a child.

The process of finding a pediatrician requires many important points from both pediatricians and parents. It requires communication and persistence in order for each party to gain a helpful understanding of one another.

“Pediatrics is very complicated. It’s not just one and done,” Brogan said. “It’s a process that requires growth together, and pediatricians should be looking at your family’s entire health, not just one point in time.”

The first step of finding a pediatrician requires parents to look inward toward what they need for themselves and their child. This requires understanding what kind of needs their child has on multiple levels.

Dr. Elizabeth Campbell, practice owner and pediatrician at Associated Pediatricians, considers the reflection period to be monumental. 

“Having a pediatrician is having someone that knows and understands all of your child’s physical and emotional development,” Campbell said. “Having someone that truly knows and understands all about your child—physically, emotionally, and developmentally—is key.”

For many, especially new parents, pediatric care might seem like uncharted territory. Parents should keep in mind that no question is off limits. In fact, asking questions and working to better understand is highly encouraged.

“Parents are very smart, and they want the same things we want,” Brogan said. “They need to trust their gut and not be afraid to ask questions. There is no question that’s too silly for anyone to answer. As long as they’re open and themselves, they will find what’s right for them.”

On the other end, pediatricians who work to meet parents where they are at stand out as healthcare providers. Parents should prioritize finding pediatricians who are flexible and considerate of multiple variables in their lives.

“Pediatricians should support not just what works for that one minute, but rather what works for a family on the whole. You can prescribe a treatment, but if that is something that the family doesn’t accept within their culture or can’t afford or doesn’t have the time to do, it’s never going to work,” Brogan said. “Understanding the family and how we can support them is really an important thing.”

Communication and understanding begins with familiarizing oneself with the pediatrician. While pediatric clinics typically offer check-ins for families and children before families commit, some do not offer this until the child is born. One way Associated Pediatrics emphasizes access is through allowing visits for both current and expecting parents.

“We offer the opportunity, especially for expectant parents, to have a meeting with the physicians in order to get to know us and what our practice is about,” Campbell said. “We also have a very robust website that talks about our mission and our vision, as well as the values of our practice.”

Self-reflection can be a useful tool when trying to understand the long-term impact. 

“The best way to know before you even commit to anything is to just go ahead and have a conversation,” said Dr. Pablo Bukata, practice owner and pediatrician at Associated Pediatricians. 

Another way Associated Pediatricians prioritizes communication is through its maintenance of access. The organization employs eight doctors and three nurse practitioners. The size of the organization allows it to offer frequent access to members of the community, even outside of operating hours.

“Access is availability. For our place specifically,  we have late hours. After work, everything blows up. We’re available after 5 p.m. three nights a week, and we’re open every Saturday. We also have somebody on call 24/7,” Bukata said. “We’re available pretty much every day of the year, except federal holidays, because there’s always babies being born. We can’t not be available.”

Associated Pediatricians further provides access to its programming through a mix of prenatal and early childhood courses, provided at no cost to the public. Campbell points to these initiatives as a strong way for community members to familiarize themselves with the values and the mission of the organization.

“We’ve got a newborn baby class, and a really great breastfeeding class. Both of those can give a preview of what we really try to do, which is to give compassionate, science-based care that really cares about your kid,” Campbell said.

When searching for a pediatrician, much of the process lies in understanding personal and familial needs. Associated Pediatricians seeks to help work with parents through combined initiatives of specialized care, open communication, and frequent access to its programming.

Outside of these, the biggest aspect of finding a pediatrician often comes down to personal intuition.

“Be honest with yourself—what are you looking for? Then, you know what you need to look for in other people,” Bukata said. “There’s a lot of variables with the service, but at the end of the day, it’s about serving you. It’s about meeting your child’s health needs, whether they’re acute or they’re chronic or they’re preventative.”

For more information about Associated Pediatricians, its core mission, and an exploration of the services it offers, you can visit associatedpediatricians.com.