I've been in St. John's for about a year and a half and will need to find a paediatrician for my daughter. Can anyone tell me how that's done? The Canadian medical system still perplexes me a bit.

I have a GP, but I don't want to deal with going there with my daughter. He takes on FAR too many patients, so each time I go, I end up sitting next to someone coughing, with the flu or who appears to be shaking from drug/alcohol withdrawals for at least an hour and a half. There's no way I'm going into that tiny, germ-infested waiting room for nearly two hours with an infant.

In NB a referral from a doc was needed for ours.

Can you ask for the first appointment of the day so there's no backlog?

Or maybe they'll do the referral without your daughter being there.

In our case, we didn't actually have a family doc at the time and a prescription renewal was needed (we moved from Quebec). We had to go to ER for them to make a referral to a particular doc, who would 'play ball' and make the necessary referral.

Seemed daft to have to do that but it was a 'work-around' suggested to us by someone in the know and it worked.

Unless there is an overwhelming medical reason why you need a referral it is highly unlikely the GP will give you one, or the specialist see you. 'I want to get a referral to a paediatrician because I don't want my child to sit in your germ infested hole' is unlikely to be a compelling reason for a referral.

As it is hard to get a GP and bearing in mind a GP can 'fire' patients, making a fuss over nothing is not always a good idea. Better to have a doctor and wait than no doctor at all.

People go to the doctor because they are sick, which is why sick people are in the waiting room. If every parent who wanted to take their child to a specialist because they did not want to sit next to someone coughing, children who are really sick and need specialist care may not get it or get it in time.

Aviator,

A paediatrician is not a specialist. They are a doctor specifically for a child and it's standard where I am for a child to see one instead of their parents' GP. I understand that a doctor is there to see sick people, but I don't want to expose my newborn to someone with a cold or the flu for two hours, as I'm sure no parent would. It's not as if I'm making a fuss over nothing. My GP also sees children if he has to, but prefers not to. Looking on the internet, I can't find information on how to get a paediatrician here, which is why I'm asking. I really don't appreciate the implication that I'm making some sort of diva demands for my child and thinking she deserves special treatment over sick children.

If you don't have any sort of helpful input, why even respond?

My kids have went to the local GP here for since they were born with no problems - If there are any complications that the GP feels needs looked at by a pediatrician then they will send a referral to the Janeway where they will get any specialized care needed .

Not too sure why you seem to have taken offence to aviators response there - his seemed to be an honest answer .

Thanks for that, nldfc. A friend told me she was taking her kids to a paediatrician and it was standard here (she's new to NL as well), but it took her months to get taken as a patient. She's away at the moment, so asking her how she got in wasn't an option.

Sorry, but being told I'm making a "fuss over nothing" and risk being "fired" by my GP just because I'm looking for a paediatrician (which I was told is standard) and don't want my newborn to sit next to someone with the flu for two hours came off as pretty rude. Maybe I read it the wrong way, but that's how I took it.

Aren't there going to be lots of sick kids in the paediatrician's waiting room?

I think you took it the wrong way.

Have you considered contacting one of the Paediatricians and asking how you make an appointment? This one comes highly rated (and a quick google search will give you the phone number for his office)

Perhaps they can assist.

Entirely personal, but I too think it's entirely normal for a child to see a paediatrician. My kid did from when he was first born, up to the time he was seven or eight, quite routinely. The paediatrician did all the vaccinations and monitored his growth, speech etc, and thankfully he was never sick.

I seemed to luck out on our doctor here, they have an appointment system and I'd run a mile if I ever found the walking dead in the waiting room

We have an 18 month old with a congenital condition that may mean she has some degree of physical impairment for life. We are regular visitors to the Janeway Children's hospital for physio and O/T, neuro, paed, and all manner of consultations. In general we've had excellent healthcare here.

But to see the paediatrician in the first place? That required a referral from our GP. Which did, yes, require a certain amount of time waiting in a waiting room with sick people. Our daughter managed to survive this.....

The Paediatrician we see is Dr Cooper. Can't recommend him highly enough.

Paediatricians are specialists. I think what you are looking for is a paediatric GP giving primary care and not a secondary or tertiary care paediatrician.

Try these people for advice
http://www.easternhealth.ca/AboutEH.aspx?d=1&id=55&p=73
Kids are more likely to spread bugs around to adults ,, they need to meet a few bugs to build up some resistance. The elderly are most at risk from coughs, colds, flu than children and babies.