Key Issues

I'd vote for it.

Well, if the pediatrician is any good... the day goes kinda like this... depending on the number of hospitals he has patients at

Morning rounds at the hospital between the hours of 6am and 8:30am

Get to the office see the scheduled patients and possibly have some emergency appointments

12-2 (lunchtime) - this will likely start at 1pm because of backups in the morning schedule... maybe 1:30 or 1:45 on bad days. maybe grab a bite to eat at the desk while returning phone calls from parents and the hospital. Possibly a quick trip to the hospital if one of the patients is really sick

See the afternoon schedule of patients. Supposed
to end at 4pm - very likely doesn't end until 5:30 or 6pm. Back over to the hospitals for evening rounds.

Not to mention the calls from the hospital or other doctors that will interupt him while he's with other patients. (yeah, switch your thoughts on a dime from the current patient in the office with an ear infection to the kid in the hospital who broke his leg and is in traction...)

Home between 7 to 9pm... unless there's an emergency. Then if you're on call, you will be getting phone calls the rest of the night from parents with sick kids and the hospital needing orders for kids who have an emergency later.

Get up at 4:30 or 5am and start again the next day.

Now you know why I didn't even think of becoming a doctor, especially a pediatrician! Nope - don't want that schedule at all. *grin*

Small town. We don't have a hospital! That's not to say she doesn't occasionally go, but I'm betting it isn't a daily ritual.

But your point is valid, particularly for her competition, which is looking really good right about now...

My baby is still miserable after three days on [what I know to be] a weak antibiotic. And she won't call in anything else, so this irritation by far trumps the hours.

Have you tried the new Sudafed plug ins? My baby had a miserable time at night breathing... used one of those suckers and it helped him big time. They are kind of pricey, but it was well worth the nights sleep I got! (This is assuming your baby's miserable condition is respiratory related).

Oh bummer... unfortunately if the baby is already on an antibiotic - it's too late to find out what kind of infection it might be *sigh*. Any kind of swab test would be negated by the bit of medication that's there.

When my son was 3, I took him in with the symptoms of... "I know there's something wrong" (that was it, fussy, irritable, no fever, no sore throat, no ear infection) They did a throat culture just in case... turned out to be a severe case of strep!!! Yeah I did say - NO FEVER! Took 3 rounds of the strongest antibiotic they could give him at the time. Scared the living daylights out of me!

If you don't think this doc is getting it right, it might be worth your time to find another and get a second opinion. Never underestimate your own intuition about your kids! A second opinion might not make things better... then again it might.

Thank you guys for your helpful advice. I am watching her suffer very slow improvement on this weak sulfa antibiotic (for a severe ear infection!), but fortunately she's a pretty sturdy kid. I hate it though.

When I was a kid, I was sent home with the refrigerator pink stuff and felt better the next day. She went to the Dr. on Monday and has been miserable all week.

(Oh yeah, and I should tell you guys. My "baby" is 8. I can't help it. She'll always be my baby...)