<p>DD’s home for the week, has a cold she can’t shake and is exhausted. This time last year, she ended up with mono - so I wanted her to get tested while she was home, just in case. It occurred to me, that since she’ll be 21 later this year, that perhaps she shouldn’t still be seeing her pediatrician!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: </p>
<p>When did your child start seeing a “regular” doctor? How did you make the switch? Given that she’s 20 now, does SHE have to do all the setup/legwork? (ie, does HIPAA apply to this?) I was thinking of having her move over to the practice that H and I go to (a family practice).</p>
<p>Her school is 5 hours away, our insurance coverage is limited in that area. So while she’s still on our policy, her PCP really has to be in our area.</p>
<p>My D’s pediatrican added “adolescent medicine” to her practice around the time that most of her patients were entering high school, which I thought was a smart, patient-centered move. So my D didn’t make the switch to a family practice until the summer after college freshman year. </p>
<p>She selected the family practice that I go to (on the rare occasions I need a doc), I took her to the appointment, she had to do all of her paperwork, including the HPAA stuff (she chose to give my H and me full access to her medical records anyway). She also attends a university 5 hours from home, and schedules her annual checkup when she’s home during the summer.</p>
<p>My D(21) still sees her pediatrician for routine matters while home, but she also has an OB/GYN. Both my boys switched to “regular” doctors when they started working, and lived full time away from our hometown. Every time she goes she assumes she will feel completely out of place, then runs into kids between 18-22 from her high school!</p>
<p>Orch-Mom…yes, our pediatrician’s office is officially termed “Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine”. Which is why I haven’t worried too much about this. But D is starting to nag about it. When she went in for her appointment earlier this week, she made sure to text me to let me know she was the only patient over the age of three in the office! :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Of course if she knew it was going to be HER that had to do the “work”, I’m sure she’d be fine with staying status quo. ;)</p>
<p>My son switched to my husband’s family doctor around the time he turned 18. My husband took him for the first visit. Son was starting to feel out of place at the pediatricians - everything is geared toward little kids - the furniture, the wallpaper, etc. Seemed sort of silly for someone almost 6 feet to be sitting in a room with cartoon zebras all over the walls. He stuck it out with his pediatrician dentist until he was almost 19 because he adored her. She finally told him he might want to go to an adult dentist. :)</p>
<p>Son was here on spring break last week and also has cold-like symptoms he hasn’t been able to shake - it appears to be allergies, though it didn’t start until after he had two bouts of a cold last fall. Anyway, he went to his doctor by himself no problem. I made sure he had our new cards. He called me from the office with a few questions but he was fine with doing it on his own. I offered to go with him but he wanted to go by himself.</p>
<p>Does your daughter’s school have a student health center? That is where my son went when he had those two colds (actually think one was the case of the flu) when he couldn’t shake them. Mono was going around his fraternity, so I encouraged him to get tested. The Student Health Center doesn’t charge for office visits, only lab work and prescriptions.</p>
<p>I met with the head of our pediatric department at work the other day to help him plan out where to locate new physician offices and he was telling me the bulk of patients in a pediatric office are under the age of 5. That surprised me because my son went to his pediatrician until he was 18 but he said we were the exception, not the norm (nationally).</p>
<p>I work in Pediatrics. Our docs will tell you they will see “kids” through college, but it’s really pretty rare to have this happen. Most seem to make the switch when they are out of their teens. We too transitioned by having D1 start seeing an OB/GYN doc around the start of college.</p>
<p>My 19 year old son has not switched yet but I think his dr’s practice is also geared toward adolescent medicine. There always seemed to be signs up about sports’ physicals, etc. When I most recently went with him (which was a few visits ago), there were other teens in the waiting room. A good friend of our’s is one of the senior drs in the practice although she stopped being his dr when he started elementary school. I think I will ask her what she thinks the next time that I see her.</p>
<p>True - but for some reason, during her bout with mono last year, the Student Health Center sent her to the local hospital lab for the bloodwork…which of course was not covered by our insurance plan. So I ended up having to spend $300 for the mono test. That’s why I wanted her to see her doctor while home on spring break.</p>
<p>I think that our pediatrician will retire before my kids quit seeing him. :)</p>
<p>Truly my almost 23 year old daughter went in about a year ago - she was having stomach problems similar to those she had in high school. He had all her records, called a specialist that his wife sees, and sent my daughter over within the hour. (She uses her school health center for OB-Gyn visits and minor illnesses, but she wanted someone she knew and trusted to help her with the more serious stomach issues.) </p>
<p>Great doctors can be hard to find. I personally have not found a doctor to match this pediatrician (often listed among the best in our city). My kids like him, and he hasn’t said “no” yet.</p>
<p>Our pediatrician will see kids for their college physicals…and that is the end of the road. After that, they will recommend a bunch of other primary care doctors to switch to. DD switched from the pediatrician when she entered high school. DS had his college physical and switched right after that.</p>
<p>Our pediatrician will see kids through college, he says he likes to see what happens to “his kids”. Both of my boys will see him when they are home, but mostly they use student health. Our oldest son is graduating this spring, so I guess he will find a doctor where ever he ends up.</p>
<p>ignatious, I did see my pediatrician until I finally moved out of town at the age of 28. Again, mostly just for colds, etc. but he did do the blood tests for our wedding and tried to talk me out of getting married to a philosopher.</p>
<p>We’ve always seen a general practitioner - so my college-age D is fine. She was one of the first babies that this dr. delivered so they have a special bond. But, it is a little disconcerting to have the same dr. who delivered her giving her a pap smear now.</p>
<p>But my kids did see a pediatric dentist. He told D that she could continue coming to him as long as she wanted. But after her checkup this past Christmas break, she informed us that she needed a “grown-up” dentist. I guess the lure of balloons and stickers has worn off.</p>
<p>The last time my D went to her pediatrician was around 12 or 13 when she broke her arm and needed a cast. I started sensing awkwardness and reticence on her part toward her male pediatrician, probably a typical reaction of most preteens. I checked with my internist who is also my OB/GYN if she’d take on my daughter and we agreed to switch D. to my doctor when she turned 16. I wanted D. to have total frank talk about any medical problem with a female doctor and it had worked out well. My doctor has a daughter just a year older than mine, so besides checkup, we also shoot the breeze about college process, teenager behavior, etc. It’s great! She discusses pros/cons of Gardasil, reminds me about required vaccinations to prep for college along with the trials and “terrors” of raising teenager girl. I live in fear that she’ll retire once her kids’ college bill is paid off!</p>
<p>For D1, her last visit to the pediatrician was for her college-required physical. She then switched to a practice recommended by the ped. office.</p>
<p>For D2, her first visit to the new office was for her college physical. Both my D’s (now ages 21 and 19) take care of their own scheduling, paperwork, etc. Dad and I just pay the bills.</p>
<p>I asked my kids’ pediatrician this several years ago. He joked, “When my patients start having kids of their own, I kick them out!” </p>
<p>The pediatrician’s really good with the college-age kids because he has several of his own, but still I think my boys are also tired of the cutsie environment and are ready to move on. Some of our favorite docs are those at a nearby emergent care facility, but unfortunately, they don’t see patients except on a drop in basis.</p>
<p>Our kids probably stayed with the pediatrician a little longer than they should have. D switched out before her college physical. S switched around age 16. Our pediatrician became a friend over the years; our kids were in the same school/grade. The pediatrician was great about fitting us in for emergency appointments and she always encouraged me to call her at home if I needed anything. I think I may have used that privilege once or twice. </p>
<p>Now the kids go to a practice that specializes in adolescent and young adult medicine. The youngest patients are probably late high school. They’ll see patients into their 30s. It is a fabulous group that is so in tune with the physical and emotional demands of this age group.</p>
<p>I worked at my DD’s pediatrician’s office before I took a job as a school nurse several years ago. I still go by and visit occasionally. DD is friendly with everyone at the practice and wasn’t happy when I told her before college that she needed to switch over and see a “big girl doctor” instead of the pediatrician. She asked her doctor about it the next time she visited and her doctor laughed and told her to tell me she could see her as long as she liked. The next time I went by to visit, I told the doctor she should be prepared as DD would never leave her practice until they kick her out. DD didn’t care at all that she was the oldest one in the waiting room. She just knew she was comfortable there. On her last visit (months before her college graduation), DD was told by her doctor that she should move on after graduation. She has finally moved on to an adult practice.</p>
<p>My son’s pediatrician said it was her practice to keep kids until 21. She even went to my son’s high school plays! Just before he turned 21, he said he’d like to switch to a regular Dr. I found him a good one, a youngish guy, but he’s already moving away.</p>
<p>Our pediatrician sees kids through college if they want to. That’s what older son did. Younger son didn’t really like our doctor and asked to switch to the family practitioner before college. He got a college physical some time spring senior year IIRC.</p>