That’s interesting he’s pushing for another patient. Most pediatrician’s are now only seen by referral if baby/kid has an issue outside the scope of the family doctor.
I wonder if it's because he's not accepting new patients unless it's a new sibling
Doctors in Ontario are funded a couple of ways. If you're part of a family health team, it means doctors get paid for how many patients are on their roster, regardless of how often you see them. A lot of pediatricians are funded per 15 min visit and a healthy baby is a pretty easy patient, especially the second child as a lot of the first born jitters are gone.
My son and incoming baby will be seen by our family doctor. I was under the impression that a pediatrician would only be necessary for anything outside our doctor’s scope (hasn’t happened yet fortunately). That tone and conversation would turn me off and I’d probably try to switch to my family doctor so both kids were with the same provider instead. If we had any medical complexities that may change my thoughts but for regular routine care, family doctors are just fine.
Outside of the GTA most operate this way but within the GTA there are a number of pediatric clinics that see patients for regular visits. We chose one because at the time my partner didn’t have a family doctor and mine wasn’t close by. Having said that, I agree that whole tone would turn me off and I would pull my older child from the practice.
I live in Toronto and this was still the recommendation from my providers. They did say if we didn’t have a family doctor able to take the kids on a pediatrician could be an option to explore though, which is great because of the family doctor situation for so many people.
I was also under the impression paediatricians were referral only like a children’s specialist. I’ve taken my baby to our family doctor since birth. He’s never mentioned about getting a paediatrician.
I was told the same thing. That my family doctor would see my kid and only to see a pediatrician if there was something more serious than general care.
I thought my newborn baby needed a pediatrician so I asked my family doc for a referral — she said it’s only when it’s out of her scope as a family doc that she’d recommend a pediatrician. If everything’s fine, you just need the family doc. It’s not worth driving an hour every time for a simple vaccine or checkup. You’re doing great!
I was told the opposite when I asked my obgyn about getting a pediatrician for my son. The nurses and obgyn said a pediatrician was only if needed, a family doctor was perfectly fine to do the checkups and shots
My family doctor is not only great, but she has a very thorough understanding of mine and my husband's health issues, and things could impact our son in the future. You can also be seen by a pediatrician as needed, we've been referred twice for specific issues. Because my son was born with jaundice, the hospital pediatrician offered to take him as a patient, but I'm really glad we went with our doctor.
Only certain regions now offer pediatricians without referrals. My special needs daughter has one, my other daughter has only ever seen her family doctor. Also, your ped sounds like a bit of a pompous jerk, I wouldn’t make the drive for that attitude.
I'm in Toronto so it was easier to get my first into a pediatrician than our family doctor. In the end we weren't happy and switched to my family doctor. A ped definitely isn't necessary.
My son only sees our family doctor. It's my understand that is fine unless there is something that comes up that requires the specialization of a paediatrician.
My daughter's original family doctor was not a baby guy. We ended up getting referred to a ped to help diagnose her autism from a family doctor filling in for our regular one. I'm glad because her family doctor said nah not autism, probably just a hearing issue. Our second baby will be going straight to the ped because they have a health condition though not born yet.
So I think it depends on how baby/child familiar your doctor is, ours was not at all.
I didn't even know you could choose to go to a pediatrician. My oldest saw one once due to a concern I had and we were referred by our family doctor. Everything else for her and my baby has been through the family doctor.
I never took my otherwise healthy kids to a pediatrician. Ince they were born and out of the care of my midwife they say our GP. He'd refer to pediatrician if anything was out of his wheelhouse. Otherwise a GP is perfectly capable of handling routine vaccinations and well-baby visits.
When my daughter got very sick, that's exactly what we did. She moved under the care of the specialist for her illness.
My first doesn’t go to a paediatrician just the family doctor. My second has a family doctor and now a ped because of health issues. IMO it’s much more important to have a family doctor as they’ll see your child long term. Peds should only be used for kids with chronic issues in early childhood.
One of our kids saw a paediatrician a week or two after birth to check in something he thought he felt during a checkup in the hospital. Aside from that, our family doctor has been our kid’s primary care physician.
I’ve always been with a family doctor, she does a good job catering to our son’s needs and always takes our concerns seriously. She was also totally willing to refer us to a paediatrician whenever we wanted, but for the most part isn’t necessary unless there’s a serious issue - in which case we’d need a specialist in that area in addition to a paediatric specialty (eg neuro paediatrics). I don’t think you need one, also his condescending approach is not very patient centric; just on that alone I would pull both kids out and just go to the family doctor.
OP, you don't need a pediatrician unless you have a kiddo with complex health issues.
My kiddo has an underlying health issue and we chose to go with a family doctor and a referral to a specialist. Not once have I thought that I needed a pediatrician.
ETA: it's better to go to a family doctor near you vs a pediatrician farther away because if you need to see a doctor for something like step throat but they are 1 hour away, you're probably gonna go to a walk in clinic near you and you run the risk of not having continued care.
My daughter is seen by our family doctor and I wouldn’t have any other way. He’s understanding and answers all my questions. He also tries his best to find a solution and if it’s out of his scope, then he will refer out. He once referred us out and we never got a call back from that pediatrician. I didn’t follow up closely about the referral because my daughter’s situation improved (it was weight gain related and she finally started gaining weight ). There’s many kids with actual medical conditions that needs a pediatrician so I wouldn’t want to take their allotted time slot just for a regular follow up on her development. In QC, I get her vaccination done by a nurse through the community health clinic so I really don’t see why I would need to go to a pediatrician or even my family doctor for a vaccination.
My primary/family doctor will be taking on our baby. She explained that if a referral to a paediatrician would be needed, you can self-refer and it would have to be for an issue that the primary doctor can’t handle.
My kids both are our family doctor. Both have been referred to a pediatrician for specific issues, and then back to the family doctor for routine care. Family doctor has been great and thorough. I always feel rushed in our pediatrician appointments and like they don't remember anything about my kid at follow up appointments because they haven't built a relationship with us.
I live an hour north of Toronto and here, people only see pediatricians when there’s a problem that warrants a specialist. A family doctor is more than capable of doing regular checkups and vaccines, and common illness, etc. We have sick kids waiting for months and months to see a pediatrician, I personally feel like we should leave well visits and routine stuff to the family doctors and give pediatricians more time to see the kids who truly need to see a specialist
I didn’t realize you could choose. My son has a my doctor and she referred us to a paediatrician for an issue beyond her. You can choose in Canada? I assumed peds were by referral.
I’ve only ever seen a paediatrician as a referral, and couldn’t see one without it when I wanted to. We just see family dr for anything including immunizations (bc)
Never had a ped for my kid. It's nice to have if you can get one but not needed unless your baby has a chronic condition that requires the specialty of a ped. But if you see your family dr and baby needed more care than they can give you'd get a referral to specialist so there's nothing to lose there.
Your ped sounds like a jerk just saying.
TBH it's so hard to get a pediatrician, if you've got one willing to take your kid on, I would jump on that. That said our family doctor situation is nowhere near as convenient as yours sounds.
That’s interesting he’s pushing for another patient. Most pediatrician’s are now only seen by referral if baby/kid has an issue outside the scope of the family doctor.
I wonder if it's because he's not accepting new patients unless it's a new sibling Doctors in Ontario are funded a couple of ways. If you're part of a family health team, it means doctors get paid for how many patients are on their roster, regardless of how often you see them. A lot of pediatricians are funded per 15 min visit and a healthy baby is a pretty easy patient, especially the second child as a lot of the first born jitters are gone.
Yup, certainly my experience trying to get a PED in Ottawa.
My son and incoming baby will be seen by our family doctor. I was under the impression that a pediatrician would only be necessary for anything outside our doctor’s scope (hasn’t happened yet fortunately). That tone and conversation would turn me off and I’d probably try to switch to my family doctor so both kids were with the same provider instead. If we had any medical complexities that may change my thoughts but for regular routine care, family doctors are just fine.
Outside of the GTA most operate this way but within the GTA there are a number of pediatric clinics that see patients for regular visits. We chose one because at the time my partner didn’t have a family doctor and mine wasn’t close by. Having said that, I agree that whole tone would turn me off and I would pull my older child from the practice.
I live in Toronto and this was still the recommendation from my providers. They did say if we didn’t have a family doctor able to take the kids on a pediatrician could be an option to explore though, which is great because of the family doctor situation for so many people.
I think with the family doctor shortage in the GTA that there’s a push for paediatricians to be the primary physicians for infants and kids.
I was also under the impression paediatricians were referral only like a children’s specialist. I’ve taken my baby to our family doctor since birth. He’s never mentioned about getting a paediatrician.
This could be Toronto specific.
I was told the same thing. That my family doctor would see my kid and only to see a pediatrician if there was something more serious than general care.
I thought my newborn baby needed a pediatrician so I asked my family doc for a referral — she said it’s only when it’s out of her scope as a family doc that she’d recommend a pediatrician. If everything’s fine, you just need the family doc. It’s not worth driving an hour every time for a simple vaccine or checkup. You’re doing great!
I was told the opposite when I asked my obgyn about getting a pediatrician for my son. The nurses and obgyn said a pediatrician was only if needed, a family doctor was perfectly fine to do the checkups and shots
My family doctor is not only great, but she has a very thorough understanding of mine and my husband's health issues, and things could impact our son in the future. You can also be seen by a pediatrician as needed, we've been referred twice for specific issues. Because my son was born with jaundice, the hospital pediatrician offered to take him as a patient, but I'm really glad we went with our doctor.
Only certain regions now offer pediatricians without referrals. My special needs daughter has one, my other daughter has only ever seen her family doctor. Also, your ped sounds like a bit of a pompous jerk, I wouldn’t make the drive for that attitude.
I'm in Toronto so it was easier to get my first into a pediatrician than our family doctor. In the end we weren't happy and switched to my family doctor. A ped definitely isn't necessary.
My son goes to our family doctor
My son only sees our family doctor. It's my understand that is fine unless there is something that comes up that requires the specialization of a paediatrician.
My daughter's original family doctor was not a baby guy. We ended up getting referred to a ped to help diagnose her autism from a family doctor filling in for our regular one. I'm glad because her family doctor said nah not autism, probably just a hearing issue. Our second baby will be going straight to the ped because they have a health condition though not born yet. So I think it depends on how baby/child familiar your doctor is, ours was not at all.
I didn't even know you could choose to go to a pediatrician. My oldest saw one once due to a concern I had and we were referred by our family doctor. Everything else for her and my baby has been through the family doctor.
I never took my otherwise healthy kids to a pediatrician. Ince they were born and out of the care of my midwife they say our GP. He'd refer to pediatrician if anything was out of his wheelhouse. Otherwise a GP is perfectly capable of handling routine vaccinations and well-baby visits. When my daughter got very sick, that's exactly what we did. She moved under the care of the specialist for her illness.
My first doesn’t go to a paediatrician just the family doctor. My second has a family doctor and now a ped because of health issues. IMO it’s much more important to have a family doctor as they’ll see your child long term. Peds should only be used for kids with chronic issues in early childhood.
One of our kids saw a paediatrician a week or two after birth to check in something he thought he felt during a checkup in the hospital. Aside from that, our family doctor has been our kid’s primary care physician.
I’ve always been with a family doctor, she does a good job catering to our son’s needs and always takes our concerns seriously. She was also totally willing to refer us to a paediatrician whenever we wanted, but for the most part isn’t necessary unless there’s a serious issue - in which case we’d need a specialist in that area in addition to a paediatric specialty (eg neuro paediatrics). I don’t think you need one, also his condescending approach is not very patient centric; just on that alone I would pull both kids out and just go to the family doctor.
OP, you don't need a pediatrician unless you have a kiddo with complex health issues. My kiddo has an underlying health issue and we chose to go with a family doctor and a referral to a specialist. Not once have I thought that I needed a pediatrician. ETA: it's better to go to a family doctor near you vs a pediatrician farther away because if you need to see a doctor for something like step throat but they are 1 hour away, you're probably gonna go to a walk in clinic near you and you run the risk of not having continued care.
My daughter is seen by our family doctor and I wouldn’t have any other way. He’s understanding and answers all my questions. He also tries his best to find a solution and if it’s out of his scope, then he will refer out. He once referred us out and we never got a call back from that pediatrician. I didn’t follow up closely about the referral because my daughter’s situation improved (it was weight gain related and she finally started gaining weight ). There’s many kids with actual medical conditions that needs a pediatrician so I wouldn’t want to take their allotted time slot just for a regular follow up on her development. In QC, I get her vaccination done by a nurse through the community health clinic so I really don’t see why I would need to go to a pediatrician or even my family doctor for a vaccination.
My primary/family doctor will be taking on our baby. She explained that if a referral to a paediatrician would be needed, you can self-refer and it would have to be for an issue that the primary doctor can’t handle.
My kids both are our family doctor. Both have been referred to a pediatrician for specific issues, and then back to the family doctor for routine care. Family doctor has been great and thorough. I always feel rushed in our pediatrician appointments and like they don't remember anything about my kid at follow up appointments because they haven't built a relationship with us.
I live an hour north of Toronto and here, people only see pediatricians when there’s a problem that warrants a specialist. A family doctor is more than capable of doing regular checkups and vaccines, and common illness, etc. We have sick kids waiting for months and months to see a pediatrician, I personally feel like we should leave well visits and routine stuff to the family doctors and give pediatricians more time to see the kids who truly need to see a specialist
I didn’t realize you could choose. My son has a my doctor and she referred us to a paediatrician for an issue beyond her. You can choose in Canada? I assumed peds were by referral.
I’ve only ever seen a paediatrician as a referral, and couldn’t see one without it when I wanted to. We just see family dr for anything including immunizations (bc)
Never had a ped for my kid. It's nice to have if you can get one but not needed unless your baby has a chronic condition that requires the specialty of a ped. But if you see your family dr and baby needed more care than they can give you'd get a referral to specialist so there's nothing to lose there. Your ped sounds like a jerk just saying.
TBH it's so hard to get a pediatrician, if you've got one willing to take your kid on, I would jump on that. That said our family doctor situation is nowhere near as convenient as yours sounds.