Family of Ten!

One of the joys of being a pediatrician is being able to care for an entire family. You get to know one child and then when a new sibling is born, you get to follow them too! It is definitely wonderful to have even a closer bond with the parents.

However, at times it can be challenging...especially when there are lots of siblings! This week, I was able to see a total of 5 families with siblings. Of those visits most had 3 children for me to see and others had 5 children to see. Here's a picture of one of my families that have 4 siblings, but I examined 3 for that visit. What's the largest number of siblings in one family that I care for? Ten! These numbers can create an obstacle due to limited examination space as well as not having children (or their parents) get tired through all of the histories and examinations. The other huge hurdle is scheduling, as if you block off an entire half day for a large family, and then they don't show up, you may end up with no patients. The flip side of that is double to triple booking the appointment slots and then everybody shows up!

These are are just some of the joys and challenges of working in a community health center. Its been a pleasure sharing the month of January with you. I hope that you were able to get a glimpse of what life is like as a provider at Hampton Roads Community Health Center.