What age do you take your daughter for her first "female doctor" visit?

[PatsGirl]

Asthma you see the specialist- wouldn't see a GP for asthma treatment would you??? Would you have a GP do your annual colonoscopy???

Actually, yes. DS's GP diagnosed and treated his asthma for years. My NP does all my annual testing with the exception of mammos and a recent abdominal u/s I needed. My DD was referred to an ENT specialist by her pedi and I ended up closing my cases with both of them and going to a GP for her as well. For her surgeries I did use an ENT from Mass Eye and Ear but for her follow-ups and regular visits, the GP was great! Going to one person for all your basic ailments makes much more sense to me IMHO than having several doctors, each one treating something different.

Once you get to know and trust a doctor (GP or NP) I see no reason to go elsewhere unless THEY deem it necessary. And... specialists for common ailments is one of the reasons our insurance rates are so high.

 

[daisax]

of course for a rash you would see a dermatologist- why would I go to a GP for a skin disorder??? I would see a GP for a simple thing like a cold or a simple earache- nothing major. A simple yearly physical would be the GP but OMG-no internal by one! Blood work is taken by a local lab. Asthma you see the specialist- wouldn't see a GP for asthma treatment would you??? Would you have a GP do your annual colonoscopy???

Why would you trust the GP with a simple earache but not with a simple rash? Why would you trust them with a throat culture but not a pap smear?

99% of what people deal with is extremely common and GPs have seen it thousands of times. Most rashes are something that a nurse practitioner could deal with and prescribe a cure for - no need to see a specialist at several hundred dollars an hour for poison ivy or contact dermatitis.

Now if the GP is stumped or concerned, or the treatment prescribed doesn't work, or you have other medical conditions or medications that make treating the condition more tricky, then a specialist makes sense.

A good solution is to find a practice that has people practicing various subspecialties. There's an OB-GYN, a gastroenterologist and a dermatologist in the same practice with my GP, so if she were troubled by something, she'd have a quick consult at hand.