Pediatrician to Doctor: When is it Right?
DANVILLE- When is the right time to make the switch from a pediatrician to a doctor for your child?
Geisinger Pediatrician Dr. Michal Maksimak says parents should think about the move around 16 or 18 years-old,”Yeah I would say around then or you know we’ll see them up until their first year of college. If they want to transition that process around then that’s fine too.”
But Dr. Maksimak says you’ll still want to talk to your Pediatrician to learn more about your child’s needs.
She says it’s important for parents to think about these changes and even talk with your child about them as their bodies begin to change, “The health issues become a little bit different as you age into adulthood. Obviously reproductive years for females, but the medical conditions become a little bit, quite different, in terms of the experience that the pediatricians have compared to family practitioners.”
Dr. Maksimak explains what a parent can do to help ease their child into the new stage, “We do encourage you to start having that conversation just to get experience with when to transition and helping your child ease with that transition by giving them that independence.”
You can listen to the rest of Dr. Maksimak’s remarks on the WKOK.com Podcast Page or wherever you listen to podcasts.
