Teen-Friendly Doctors & Dentists
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Aug 2011
I am looking for recommendations for a ''hip'' younger doctor for my
21-year-old daughter in the Berkeley/Oakland area. I am looking for a
general practitioner. My daughter no longer wants to see her
pediatrician because she feels the doctor doesn't understand some of the
physical & mental problems young people now have, e.g. pain in her hands
due to using cell phone since she was in 8th grade (texting, etc.). She
currently has pain in her hands and wrists at the tender young age of
21, and her pediatrician dismissed it saying she was ''too young'' to
have this problem. My daughter is a pretty sophisticated, independent
young woman who grew up in Berkeley, attended Berkeley High and recently
graduated from college after studying overseas for half a year. I have
not been able to get her to ask her friends for recommendations, so I
thought I'd try this site. I will also post on the Parents of Teens
site. Thank you for any recommendations anyone can give.
I'd like to recommend my internist, Dr. Monica Eisele-Flint,
who's at Associated Internal Medical Group in Oakland. She's
young, smart, and has a good bedside manner. I imagine she
would be understanding about the texting/pain issue your
daughter is having.
happy patient
July 2011
Our daughter, soon to turn 18, is about to ''graduate'' from her
long-standing pediatrian at Kaiser Oakland. Our doctor has
referred us to the Young Adult department and we need to choose a
physician from this group, but we are not familiar with anyone and
would really appreciate a referral and/or recommendation. Our
daughter would prefer a female doc, someone kind, smart, and
intuitive like the pediatrician she is leaving. We can certainly
go to another Kaiser (Richmond, Walnut Creek) but Oakland is our
home base and both of our kids were born there. So that would be
best.
Thanks!!
Try
Antonia Torreblanca
(she's young and friendly) or
Stephanie Scott
(she's probably 40 but very respectful and straightforward). Both
Kaiser Oakland.
Good luck!
My son, who also just turned 18 and graduated from Oakland
Pediatrics, started with
Lucy Kalanithi, MD.
We met her a couple of
weeks ago and both my son and I liked her a lot. You can also go to
the Young Adult Kaiser Oakland website (just google it) and see the
list of their Oakland doctors. By clicking their names, you can see
their photos and read about their background and philosophy.
Lexine
My 18 year old son has just started seeing
Chantal Morrison at
Kaiser Oakland, and we've both had favorable interactions with her.
I don't participate in his appointments but arranged to meet her in
the reception room after his first appointment.
Oops! Just received a note in the mail today from Dr. Chantal
Morrison, Kaiser Oakland, that she is moving to Kaiser Walnut Creek,
so I don't have a referral for you after all. Sorry!
satisfied mom
My son, who just turned 18, was referred to
Lucy Kalanithi, MD. We
both liked her a lot, so I would give her a try.
maris
Nov 2009
Any recommendations for pediatrician @ Kaiser Oakland for 16 year old
male?
The mother
My son who is 16 years old, has seen
Dr. David Bacchus
for about 9
years. He likes him and so do his father and I. He is practical
and responsive. He has been there a while now and it might be hard
to get on his panel.
Susan
April 2009
Our pediatrician of many years is retiring, and I am looking for a
new doctor for my 14 and 18 year old daughters. I'd love to find
someone who is especially good with teenagers, and who takes our
insurance (Health Net) and who is in the Berkeley/Albany/El Cerrito
area.
mg
Our girls are 12 and 16 and see
Annemary Franks
of Berkeley Pediatrics.
She has girls herself and has a great rapport with our kids. There
are other female Pediatricians in the practice. They cover for each
other. We think every doctor there even the men are very nice. They
are on Virginia by Shattuck 510-848-2566
Denise
My daughter (now 18) has been going to
Kiwi Pediatrics since birth.
She has seen many of the people in the practice, all of whom have been
great. Her primary pediatrician there is Dr. Robin Winokur. Robin is
friendly, funny,and low-key.
I did interview two other pediatricians before my daughter was born,
and chose Kiwi because I really liked Dr. Winokur. Nothing has
happened in the past 18 years to make me change my opinion of her, or
the practice. We also saw Dr. David Kittams many times. He also is a
wonderful pediatrician.
We have HealthNet, so I assume that Kiwi still takes new patients with
HealthNet.
The practice has two offices listed below. We go to the one on San
Pablo. It's a bare-bones kind of office. It seems like the practice
hired more staff, so the last few times we went, my daughter was seen
pretty much at the time of her appointment, i.e., no long wait like at
many doctor's offices.
Contact info:
1178 San Pablo Ave, Albany - (510) 524-9400
1744 Alcatraz Ave, Berkeley - (510) 652-1720
Janet
My daughter is nearly 18 and she's been seeing
Dr. Annemary Franks at
Berkeley Pediatrics since she was small. Dr. Franks is knowledgeable,
comfortable with all ages and I think, young enough herself to be able
to maintain a good camaraderie with teens. My son (nearly 20 now) and
daughter both like and respect her. I'm a pediatric nurse and I have a
great deal of confidence in her judgment.
Marianne
Both of my teen daughters, aged 16 and 19, go to pediatrician
Dr.
Karin Schiffman in Berkeley on Milvia. They appreciate her very
warm,respectful and informative manner. Her office number is 510-854-
0300.
karen
Karin Schiffman, 2500 Milvia St, Ste. 102, 845-0300. Fabulous. Love
her. I've posted multiple times recommending her--I can't recommend
her enough. She just helped us through an extremely scary health
issue (requiring a hospital stay) for my 10 year old. She was
responsive, thorough, and understanding through it all. My daughters
(10 and 13) think she's the best. I agree wholeheartedly.
Holly
I would recommend
Dr. Maria Steelman.
She is terrific with teens!!!!
She is in Lafayette. I am in Montclair, but she's worth the drive.
Adrienne
August 2008
I need to find a new pediatrician in the Walnut Creek/Lafayette
area who is great with teens. I have 2 girls, 15 and 12. Any
recommendations for my area?
A.
My daughter (12) wanted to switch from a male to a female
doctor, so we saw
Julie Herbert at Lamorinda Pediatrics.
After her appointment, my daughter wanted to become a
pediatrician! Julie is young, hip, and engaged my daughter in
discussions about puberty, etc. in a very non-embarrassing
manner. Now, we never had any serious issues to discuss with
her, but for well-child visits I was very pleased, as was my
daughter.
Sherry
March 2007
My daughter just turned 18, and was randomly assigned a male primary
care physician in adult medicine, which she is not comfortable with. I
checked the Kaiser Oakland website; the following 7 female internal
medicine/family practice doctors are currently taking new patients, and
we would appreciate your sharing any of your experiences with them,
positive or negative: Leticia Aguilera-Ledesma, Teri Lynn Alyami, Nora
Zehra Emon, Priscilla R.M. Flores, Deborah Ann Greer, Janet Amy Lai,
Michelle Shute.
Thanks much!
I'm a pediatrician at Kaiser Oakland. There's a clinic that developed in the past few years
called the ''Young Adult Clinic''. It's specifically aimed for young adults, age 18-25,
going through all the independence/college/work/sexuality etc issues that young adults deal
with. It's part of the Dept. of Internal Medicine, but the doctors are very interested in
that age group. Once your daughter turns 26 and older, she could continue to stay with that
doctor for as long as she has Kaiser. There are a lot of great women docs there. One way
to find one she might like is to go to kp.org and look who's got an open panel; you could
then look at their on-line biography and see if she might be interested. You can get an
appt in that department on-line, or just calling the Internal Medicine department and asking
for a female doc in the Young Adult Clinic.
Anon
March 2007
My son has just turned 16. I want to find a medical
doctor for him who can satisfy him, my husband, and me. My
son is skeptical of anything that he cannot prove or see
for himself. My husband wants a good medical doctor and is
OK with traditional Western medicine. I want someone who
is sensitive to prevention and the negative side effects
of drugs who can suggest alternative remedies---
homeopathics,Chinese herbs,acupuncture or whatever is
needed. My insurance company will only pay for a medical
doctor and I need that financial arrangement. Please let
me know if someone like this exists and is taking new
patients in the Berkeley/North Oakland area.
Anon
We love Janet Perlman, MD, at Bayside Pediatrics on Telegraph in
Oakland (510.452.5234). She's been our 13-year-old son's doctor since he was a
toddler. She seems very supportive about alternative approaches, and is
a good communicator in our experience.
Wendy, Oakland
Jan 2007
I'm looking for a HealthNet doctor that my gay teen son
would feel comfortable talking to. He has a great
pediatrician who helped him with other issue.. but now
it's time for an adult doctor. The HealthNet site is
impossible to get information from -- if you know of any
MDs please post. No therapists, counselors, groups etc.
Those are easy to find. This is my send post. Thanks!
Anonymous
I'm sorry that you haven't received any responses to your post. Have
you considered contacting LYRIC in SF (an organization that works with LGBT
teens) or Our Family Coalition (advocacy and support groups for LGBT
families)? They may have some leads. Although I am not in the same
situation, I am a queer mother with a 1.5 year old son using HealthNet,
and we both see Dr. Francine Yep at North Oakland Family Practice. My son
has also seen Dr. John Good - they are both compassionate, patient
listeners and sensitive to our needs. I love working with both of them.
anonymous
Call Roxanne Fiscella in Berkley. She is in Alta Bates
Medical Group and takes healthnet. Not sure if she is
taking new patients. Her office staff and NPs and PAs are
mostly women, but there are lots of male patients. Ms Ida
is the main office staff person.
Anon
[Editor] See also: Gay Friendly MDs
June 2006
I'm the parent of a 16 year old daughter and I've been
wondering whether it's time to switch her from her
pediatrician to a physician in my family practice group.
Any advice?
anonymous
I asked the doctor what she thought as our daughter turned
17. She said that she had one patient still coming there
after college; but she says through college or when the
''child/adult'' thought it was time
mother of 4
My husband is a pediatrician, thought not in private
practice, so his take on it isn't self-interested.
He would ask you to consider: does she like her doctor? Is
she comforable with the doctor's gender? Does this doctor
or practice seem to be interested in adolescent medicine?
Does she have any ongoing problems that would best be
managed by the doctor who has cared for her so far?
Adolescent medicine is an area that doctors can study, read
journals, on, etc., and most who do so are pediatrians.
Most, but not all, pediatricians are comfortable and
qualified to do pelvic exams and deal with sexual health
issues. If she likes her doctor and her doctor likes caring
for teens, then stay. Many kids stay with their
pediatricians until they leave for college.
What we did was change our son to a ''boy doctor'' in the
same practice when he was about 10. Our daughter stayed
with the woman doctor we had been using. Then, these two
veteran doctors both retired, and our kids were assigned to
young, somewhat hip doctors, each of their gender. It's
really been perfect; during the little kid stage, we had
someone very experienced to ask about things, then, when
what mattered more was the kids relationship with their
doctor, they got younger people who they felt more
comfortable talking with
not a doctor, but...
I'd wait 'til they're 18. They're still kids and pediatricians are
experienced with adolescents. A Pediatrician would be a better fit
for an adolescent than a physician who sees adults. Even 19 year
olds are still adolescents. Even though most kids see adult
physicians starting at 18, they're still dealing with hormones,
emotional ups/downs, acne, etc. Also, I think, personally, it's nice
for them to have that reassuring tie to their childhood doctor and
clinic (they're basically a big kid, not an adult) , and not thrust into
the adult clinic, where they might have worries or ill-at-ease
issues. And for you, as the parent, you'll feel more comfortable
talking to your child's longtime pediatrician about any dope-
smoking, weight-gaining/losing, issues with an expert in
adolescence than with a doctor that isn't so sensitive to the
pressures/problems of adolescents.
Mother of ''big kids''
Not sure what your concern is, exactly, about your 16 y.o.
and the pediatrician, but I'd say let your daughter make
the decision. I loved my pediatrician -- he knew me before
chicken pox, and was still the one I turned to for advice
and care when I was 18! Good pediatricians are well versed
in working with infants, teens, and everyone in between.
My 15 y.o. daughter's pediatrician at Kaiser Richmond is
wonderful. My daughter knows that she can call or e-mail
her doctor without me and I feel good knowing that she can
trust her doctor and has a safe, nonparental person she can
confide in if she needs to. So ask your daughter --if
she's happy with her pediatrician, don't change
Anon Mom
My daughter at around 14 said she was tired of the
environment at the pediatrician's office; lots of babies and
little children running around, and she also felt she was
being treated like a younger child by the pediatrician. So,
we switched to a family practitioner and all's been well. I
would ask your daughter how she feels about it. I think if
the relationship is good and the pediatrician is still
helpful, why change? But let her make the choice, it's her
body and her relationship
anon
Pediatricians that parents have recommended for teenagers
this page was last updated: Dec 25, 2011
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