25 Questions to Ask When Interviewing Your Pediatrician
I think a child’s pediatrician is almost as important as a close family member. Not only will you be entrusting the health of your child in your pediatrician, they will also be treating your child until they’re an adult. That’s a damn long time to have someone in your family’s life!
Some people may think it’s excessive, but we decided to interview our pediatricians. We narrowed our choices down to one practice that had multiple locations, did our research to find two physicians that we liked, and set up calls with both to see if we clicked. You may be wondering why that matters. Well, we have strong beliefs in vaccinations (we’re vax positive) and wanted someone who sounded kind while being respectful of the million questions I will likely ask over the years. Both pediatricians were great – but we ended up choosing the doctor who chatted longer with me on the phone and reminded me to give myself grace postpartum because a happy mommy is a happy baby.
Here’s the list of questions I used to help us choose our pediatrician. Hope they help while interviewing yours!
xo Kris
First visit questions
- When do you bring the baby in for their first appointment?
- What is the process to make the first appointment postpartum? How do you alert the practice/doctor that the baby has been born?
- What should you bear in mind during the few days before the first at office visit?
Get to know the pediatrician questions
- How long have they been a doctor?
- How long have they been practicing at this location?
- Why did they choose to be a pediatrician?
- Do they specialize in any area?
- What is their style?
- How do they talk to kids vs parents?
- Do they have children of their own?
Practice questions
- Is the practice affiliated with your hospital? If so, will they travel to the hospital for the first checkup?
- How long has the practice been established?
- How many locations are there?
- Does each location have different hours/days of operation?
- What are their walk-in hours?
- Are you able to take your child to any location, if there are multiple ones?
- Do they have separate entrances and waiting areas for sick vs well patients?
- Is there a patient portal where you can keep track of growth charts and contact the doctor?
- Is there a hotline for non-emergency questions after hours?
- Do they accept your insurance?
- Do they have lactation specialists, nutritionists, or other specialized healthcare professionals on staff?
- What are their Covid-19 protocols?
Vaccine questions
- Which other vaccines does the baby need and when?
- What is the pediatrician’s stance on vaccines?
- What vaccines should people get who will be near the baby?
