PEDIATRICS Vol. 83 No. 3 March 1989, pp. 319-322
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Health Care of Physicians' Children

Richard C. Wasserman MD, MPH1, Bruce M. Hassuk MD1, Paul C. Young MD1, and Marshall L. Land MD1

1 The Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington

In anecdotal reports, problems have been cited in the health care of physicians' children, but no systematic study of this issue has been attempted. Pediatricians in a community of high physician density were interviewed to determine whether and how the health care of physicians' children differs from that of children of equivalent socioeconomic status. Of the community's 33 pediatricians, 94% responded to items in a 45-minute structured interview, for which test-retest reliability was demonstrated. Systematic differences in the care of physicians' children included delayed help seeking and increased self-referral to specialists by parents, and poor documentation of psychosocial history, less detailed instruction giving, and a reluctance to discuss problem behavior by pediatricians. Reasons cited by pediatricians for these problems included inappropriate assumptions concerning the medical knowledge of the physician's family, confusion between the roles of healer and help seeker, and embarrassment about discussing personal issues with colleagues. Pediatricians and physician parents need to become aware of and communicate about the potential for problems in the health care of physicians' children.

Key Words: illness behavior • communication • physician parents • physicians' children • professional courtesy

Submitted on August 31, 1987
Accepted on April 15, 1988




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