Dear bloggers,

Can anyone tell me where I could find a good pediatrician in
the upper darby area? Also, what about a good family practitioner for the rest of the family? Children's ages are
3, 8, and 13. Thanks.

There is a KidsFirst practice in the Delco Memorial Hosp. office complex. It's behind the hospital. They are a good practice with many doctors or nurse practicioners to choose from.

I lived in Drexel Hill and went to Kids First Springfield, I still drive a hour to go there. The docs at that one are board certified which is what you want as it means they keep current on new methods. We love Dr. Callaghan as she is the warm, fuzzy Irish Catholic type. But all the other docs are really good in their own ways as well, and board certification is a must when selecting docs.

I had some experience with the DCMH emergency room a few years back and I wouldn't recommend you take a sick dog there let alone a human being. Maybe its just the emergency side but they treat every patient like they are lowlife trash. There is no compassion or respect for the patient's intelligence; there is only disdain and suspicion. If you need to get emergent care, go somewhere else.

We're in the process of choosing a peditrician since we're due in 3 weeks. So far we have met with Drexel Hill Pediactrics & Broomall Pediactrics in Lawrence Park. I really liked the Dr. I met with at Drexel Hill, Dr. Avanti. Broomall Peds was ok, I didn't really click with the ped there like I did with the one at Drexel Hill. But both did say that for emergent care to stay clear of DCMH, they both recommended Bryn Mawr, or if it's a life threatening case CHOP or DuPont.

I haven't met with KidsFirst yet, and was kind of turned off by the fact that they don't do pre-natal interviews at all. I don't like the idea of going to a ped where I haven't even seen the office.

Thank you so much guys, this is valuable information.
I am shocked about DCMH, I used to work there on a temporary
basis. I work in the operating room and other than the O.R. I
know nothing about the rest of the hospital. Thanks for the warnings. I also worked at Bryn Mawr in their O.R. and loved it
so much better. I will try Drexel hill peds. and then Kids first if
neccesary. Thank you guys so much.

Pretty much all docs are board certified. I would not consider any doc to be special just because he is BC.

I would be very suspicious of any doc who is not board certified (unless he is very new and simply hasnt taken the boards yet but is 'board eligible'). Board certification is required by most insurance companies as a condition of getting paid.

I hadn't really thought about it, but honestly I chose Kids First because they are affiliated with CHOP. Secondly, I checked to see if the docs in the office were board certified, and the ones in Springfield are. Dr. Callaghan is not your typical pediatrician...she actually loves kids! She chats with them, gives the babies a hug and kiss and just really seems interested in the family as a whole, which is why I take all my kids to her.

This is simply untrue. You need to check your facts before posting such nonsense. One of the recommendations in finding a doc is board certification so you know they've been trained in a specialty.

Drs. are one and the same. They are all affliated with CHOP regardless of the office location. My kids were patients at Drexel Hill when we lived in DH, and now go to Broomall location on Sproul Rd since we live closer to that location.
They also have a Media location which we have used when needed.

Also, my son had a fairly recent (within 2 yrs) experience with ER at DCMH when he needed stitches in his forehead from an accident at school. It was a fine experience (if any visit to an ER can be called fine or good!) They were thorough, professional and pretty quick - maybe it wasn't so busy yet since it was before noon on a weekday!
Also the DR did a really good job with the stitching & the nurses were great to my son. Had to clean the wound alot since they bleed so badly from the head & he had a lot of blood on him.
I had no problems with ER at DCMH or their professionalism.

Ummm, it is true. I'm not saying board certification isn't important. I'm saying that it is so fundamental that it is almost meaningless. Any doc who cannot get board certified in her specialty won't be in private practice...they will be working for the government, because insurance companies wont pay for visits to non-Board certified doctors.

Any doc who is not board certified should raise a red flag. But any doc who is board certified just means she meets the bare minimum requirements in her specialty...nothing more. Honestly, if I wanted to find a doctor who wasn't board certified, I would probably have to do some digging. Because docs who cant pass theirs boards generall cant make it out in the real world.