It's hard to find a good doctor. I hear so many gripes from people who haven't found a pediatrician or a good family doctor for either their kids or themselves. That's an awful position to be in...
For the most part, I've been lucky with physicians. Growing up, I had a wonderful doctor. She and her husband had been our whole family's physicians for years. Her husband delivered all of my siblings (They were on vacation when I was born). Then they retired. Fortunately, we found another wonderful man who still takes care of my Mom (and my Dad when he doesn't go to the VA).
Then I left home. Then I found myself on the wrong end of the physician search while working at my first "career" job out in Ohio. He was OK, but his office's lack of communication caused me some great difficulty with a very large bill. Then I came back here. I found a doctor, but she was affiliated with a different hospital than the one where Keith worked. Then she moved to another practice anyway.
So, as I was pregnant with Autumn, I found myself on the doctor search again. This time I needed a doctor for my unborn baby, too. We (fortunately) have a wonderful midwife, who I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. She also performs my regular exams and tests. But I still needed a doctor for after the baby was born.
I know so many people wouldn't do anything but have a pediatrician for their baby, but I found myself with a list of the hospital's family physicians. One of the offices is walking distance from my house. So we called and they were accepting new patients, including infants. And we lucked out again... Our doctor, who now treats all of us, is wonderful. I feel like he talks to me and he listens to me. He knows all three of us and he and his staff remember us between visits. Most importantly, I feel like a person there, not just a patient.
I understand why people want their child seen by a pediatrician. Many feel the pediatrician is going to be more attuned to their child's requirements since children are their only patients. But there's also something to be said for a doctor who can also follow your entire family and know you all as individuals as well as in your role as mother, father, spouse or child.