Pediatrician update

After my last post about our pediatrician, quite a few friends told me about their own horror experiences and asked me to provide an update on my pediatrician search. Fortunately, I did find a new pediatrician for the boys and I'm so glad I made the effort to do so! We've switched to Dr. Paul Thomas at Integrative Pediatrics. He was recommended very highly to me by a lot of Portland mamas who are on the Andaluz family yahoo group and when I met him I wasn't disappointed. The very first thing that impressed me about the office was that they have two separate waiting areas- one for sick children and another for well children. What a neat idea! (Do excuse my naivety if this is standard practice at other pediatrician offices.) Another great thing about this practice is that they have a pediatric urgent care 365 days a year (on weekday evenings up to 10pm and on weekend and holidays up to 9pm) where they welcome walk-ins. I believe this can be accessed by anyone so even if you're child isn't Dr. Paul's regular patient, you could still take advantage of this facility. Check them out for more details. But what I have been impressed with most (in our 2 visits so far) is the flexibility that Dr. Paul offers. Instead of having a one-size-fits-all approach, he makes the effort to personalize his care. For example, I didn't want to follow the standard vaccination schedule for Anurag blindly. Since he came a month early, I wanted to be careful that we weren't taxing his little body with too many vaccines too early. Dr. Paul worked with me on this and helped chalk out a plan for him. He went through the pros and cons of each vaccine and helped me make a decision.
The only thing I can say on the down side is that their office seems to be quite busy. Dr. Paul works with three nurse practitioners. For regular check ups and vaccine appointments, you normally only get to meet the nurse practitioners unless you ask to see the doctor for any reason.
Overall, I'm glad I switched. I only wish I had done it sooner!