Pediatrician in Baltimore

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frummy613

Wed, Jul 29 2009, 4:13 pm

I'm looking for a good pediatrician in Baltimore.
here are some things that are important to me:

1.easy to get in touch with
2.available often-easy to make appt's with
3.uses natural options before prescribing antibiotics or prescription drugs
4. would support a delayed vaccine schedule

thanks!!!

pinchanygo

Wed, Jul 29 2009, 4:31 pm

I use Dr. Armand Pulcinella he is located on Reisterstown road and is excellent. his number is 410-581-2345. I have never had trouble getting an appointment and is usually on time so you wont sit in the waiting room for hours.

Tova

Wed, Jul 29 2009, 4:33 pm

We have been very happy w/ Dr. Netanel Schwob 410-486-6100.

[Dr. Pulcinella was my childhood pediatrician!]

GingerSpice

Wed, Jul 29 2009, 4:40 pm

Tova wrote:

We have been very happy w/ Dr. Netanel Schwob 410-486-6100.

[Dr. Pulcinella was my childhood pediatrician!]

I used Schwob for my son (we've moved since).
I was really happy with him.

amother

Wed, Jul 29 2009, 5:31 pm

Dr. Schwob is a good man, and he is my pediatrician, however, his practice has gotten much busier lately. It is not so easy to schedule sick or well visits (on certain days)

amother

Wed, Jul 29 2009, 10:35 pm

Dr. Schwob is great but sometimes the wait is way too long.

sequins

Wed, Jul 29 2009, 10:41 pm

We use Dr. Schwob for our son and we love him, he is easy to get in touch with and gives a lot of attention to my son even though he runs a busy place. The office staff is helpful as well.

amother

Thu, Jul 30 2009, 2:30 pm

Dr. Schwob is great, but not natural in most areas (he is one of the most pro-BF doctors in the area, but encourages routine vaccinations and medicates for ear infections). Hatzlacha!

Tova

Thu, Jul 30 2009, 5:08 pm

Dr. Schwob let us spread out vaccinations if we wanted to.

This may be a dumb question, but how else does a child get over an ear infection that has a chazakah of being bacterial? My son has had a few ear infections, mostly in his first year of life, and his crankiness/ kvetchiness/ no appetite symptoms ALWAYS went away within 24 hours of getting antibiotic (ie - after he got 2 doses already). Always. No matter if we took him in at the very first sign of not-himself behavior or after a couple of days (because of Yom Tov, etc.)

amother

Thu, Jul 30 2009, 5:59 pm

(Different amother than OP) Can you tell me more about Dr. Pulcinella? People I know only use Dr. Schwob, who I've heard is great, but I'd be interested in knowing more about this other doctor so that I can weigh my options... thanks!

amother

Fri, Jul 31 2009, 12:19 am

New amother here. I agree that Schwob is quick to medicate, but I made it clear to him that I am not. He does respect that. I gave one of my kids with a weak immune system the chicken-pox vaccine, & refuse to vaccinate the others, he is fine with that. He then did a titers test to see if we needed the booster for the child that got the vaccine.

amother

Fri, Jul 31 2009, 12:35 am

We moved from Baltimore 6 years ago, but when we were there we use Dr. Andorsky for 6 years.

I don't know what his practice is like now but when we were there it was great!

1. They were very easy to contact. Dr's on call were always available at any time of the day and pleasant even at 2 in the morning. Before I found a new ped in our new town, I called him to ask his advice on something. A year later, I even called for a 2nd opinion.

2. I never had a problem making appointments, even same day. When we moved and wanted to get apppointments for each kid before moving, they were very accomodating, even last minute.

3. He does not jump to antobiotics at all!

4. I know he is non-judgemental about shots being delayed. We once had to delay shots because of an insurance poblem (for a year!) when it was resolved he happily caught her up. no problem.

He is not a "teddy bear" type. He examines the child fast, but thoroughly and then answers questions. They have a very good system and set-up in the office. There can be a bit of a wait, but it's worth it. There is a separate room for sick kids to go to. They also try to see sick kids before regular hours, during the lunch break, and after hours. They even have Sunday hours.

btMOMtoFFBs

Fri, Jul 31 2009, 6:37 am

frummy613 wrote:

I'm surprised no one mentioned Dr. Brown. He's pretty granola. I stopped going to him because I thought it was hard to get into see him for same day sick appts. But now I understand he has a nurse practitioner working in the office too, and its easier to get same day appts. Lots of people like him.

I actually switched to Dr. Andorsky's practice, though I see Dr. Cardin. I LOVE this practice. You can always get a same day sick appt and they have drop-in hrs from 8:30-9 every weekeday (no appt needed, just come and wait to be seen if your kid is sick) and also on Sundays from 9-12.

There are 4 doctors and I liked them all very much. I agree totally with the assessment of Dr. Andorsky. He's been a pediatrician for like 30 years and many people who went to him as a child bring their children to him now. I am moving OOT next week and I will TOTALLY miss this practice. Crying

Pizza

Fri, Jul 31 2009, 7:36 am

I loooooved Dr Brown when we lived in baltimore (we were there for 8 years, with 4 kids)
He shares on-call (on holidays and weekends) with Dr Pulcinella, who also impressed me
They are very open to alternative, while maintaining medical caution

PS I would periodically bring in gifts around the chagim (I.e. shaloch manos) and the sec's and dr always appreciated it. Just a nice touch.

Hashem_Yaazor

Fri, Jul 31 2009, 10:41 am

I wouldn't say Dr. Schwob is the most pro-BF doctor around here (my m-i-l is an LC, and I have pretty accurate info), and he's definitely one quick on abx (and if the first doesn't work, use a second, a third, etc etc). He's a very nice man, but not sure what the OP is looking for. If you want specific examples, please PM me.

I use Pulcinella and am very happy. Gave my husband no problems when he took my daughter for her 1 year old checkup Weds and opted to skip all vaccines at that visit. He can't give info about alternative vaccine schedules, but he's willing to work with parent.
Doesn't rush to formula based on weight charts.
He was very on top of calling me when I had my first and didn't call up with questions, and makes sure to call back when my children are sick to make sure they're getting better.
When my son had MRSA which we caught early and was only topical, he prescribed abx (necessary of course) but didn't hospitalize as any other doctor would have for an IV for 5 days. My m-i-l's coworkers were shocked. But my dr weighed the risk of not having an IV vs trauma of hospitalization. He made sure to follow up and make sure the MRSA was going away, and everything was fine. Very good about squeezing in appointments, and won't take new patients when he's too full to make sure there is room for his current patients to have appointments as necessary.
He also didn't hospitalize my son when he had pneumonia at 18 months.

Dr. Brown was my husband's ped and is ok with delayed vax, but his partner (PA or NP., I can't remember) isn't that great. Also, on the phone, he was pretty gruff with me, and I think he's hardened a bit with age. But he would meet your needs.

Another name to check into is Dr. Tellerman.
Re: ear infections, Tova, try garlic drops and/or chiropractor. I know people who were fed up with just getting abx from him and always having their children on it who had hatzlacha with these methods.

Also, I hear the N-P at Dr. Schwob is not very pro-natural either. She didn't consider using garlic drops as treatment for ear infections, even though it cleared up the problem in a day for a friend of mine.

(BTMom, you're moving?!)

Tova

Fri, Jul 31 2009, 11:53 am

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

Re: ear infections, Tova, try garlic drops and/or chiropractor. I know people who were fed up with just getting abx from him and always having their children on it who had hatzlacha with these methods.

I think we are probrably coming from different places here... When my son has been definately diagnosed with an ear infection I have absolutely no problem with him being on antibiotics. Dr. Schwob has always prescribed amoxycillin which has always worked with symptoms disappearing totally after 24 hours on the medication. Never had to try anything else. And I don't think 5 ear infections in 18 months (I think this is accurate; he is now kn"h 26 months and has not had one in a while) with a week on antibiotics for each is that much meds. Truthfully, when my son is that miserable I don't want to try natural remedies; I want to get him back to himself asap. I never ever felt Dr. Schwob rushed to prescribe. He only prescribed after diagnosing a definate infection (which sometimes necessitated removing ear wax to see better). He never said to give the meds "just because." I am NOT saying this doctor is for everyone, but he is definately a great match for us, b"H. [Interestingly, my 8.5 month old daughter has b"H bli ayin harah NEVER been sick - ear infection or otherwise. Never went in for a sick visit save for one time that I wanted the doctor to look at a diaper rash that didn't seem to be going away...and that was only because I was taking her to Israel.]

Hashem_Yaazor

Fri, Jul 31 2009, 12:26 pm

Tova wrote:

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

I'm answering your question about other remedies for ear infections. Even when they were sure it was bacterial. These were cases of chronic infections. As soon as abx were stopped, another ear infection started up again, and the mothers (3 separate ones) got to the point thinking something else might have more hatzlacha. Garlic kills bacteria, and is much safer than antibiotics given almost non-stop. I don't mean to imply antibiotics don't have a place, but there reaches a limit where mothers are trying other things, and it sounded like that's what you were asking about.
The chiropracty helps realign the structure so the ear tubes won't fill with fluid which then can have bacteria breed in it.
BTW, many ear infections are viral and disappear in that time span despite lack of antibiotics Wink

Some doctors (the current thinking) is to give the prescription and tell the parents to wait a day or two before filling it since many times the infections will go away.

amother

Sun, Aug 02 2009, 1:10 am

I guess I am in a unique position to comment bec. we started out with Pulcinella but ended up switching to Schwob. you have already gotten valuable feedback from all. we were initially very happy with pulcinella--it's a very well-run, organized, timely office. He is very chilled out and laid back and easy to work with. Medically, he is very competent. At a certain point, however, he became very hard to get in touch with. at the time, he did not have an NP and he was the only medical professional in the office. we had to call multiple times and leave multiple messages to get a call-back. there was never a nurse who could answer a simple question for us. after waiting 2 1/2 weeks and leaving 3 messages to discuss a specialist opinion, I confronted him about the difficulty with communication and he got very defensive. at that point, we decided to move on. consequently, I did hear that he got an NP so perhaps he is better about call backs. B"H, we are thrilled with Dr. Schwob. his office is quite busy, but we never had a problem getting a same day sick visit. I have found him very flexible with regards to treatment. he will typically ask me whether I want antibiotics in a borderline situation. when we met with him initially, I told him that I wanted someone less aggressive and he told us he would work with us. the staff is very efficient. there is always a nurse available to answer questions that don't need to be addressed to him. he always returns phone calls.
of course, anywhere you go, you need to be on top of things and assert your needs to the staff. yes, they have forgotten to follow through on some things, but with a polite reminder phone call, everything gets done. if you have any more specific questions, let me know.
hatzlacha with your decision!

Pizza

Sun, Aug 02 2009, 4:01 am

I also have heard good things about Tellerman

Hashem_Yaazor

Mon, Aug 03 2009, 10:33 am

Before I posted this I wanted to double check I was remembering correctly...now that I have, I just want to say this about Dr. Andorsky:
A positive -- will research that which he doesn't know
But as far as breastfeeding advice, he is not a doctor one can trust for accurate info.

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