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Review content:
Initially, I thought Doernbecher was an excellent facility. They have a highly ranked medical school and hospital, and it's extremely competitive. I had a wonderful experience in the Women's Health Center when I was pregnant. However, when my son was born, they conducted a hearing test. He failed the hearing test and we had to follow up at Doernbecher a week later. The second hearing test was failed/inconclusive because my son starting crying when they put the mic in his ears.
Fast forward to 2011. My son will be 3 in August. He has had 5 hearing tests. His last hearing test (October 2010) was inconclusive, but the audiologist found no fluid in the right ear and a little bit in the left. But she said it was inconclusive. I asked her what that was about- it's either conclusive or inconclusive- and she replied by saying that he needs to come back in a month. I asked her what the point was, and she basically said it comes down to SOP's. I left shaking my head.
The audiologist was decent compared to the pediatricians.. she didn't seem to realize that a 2 year old is not going to sit still for a full 60 seconds with foam mic's in both ears. She didn't communicate well with me at all, it struck me that she was either a new resident, or just had no children of her own and had difficulty expressing empathy.
Pediatrics is way worse. Every time we go in, he has a different pediatrician since it's a teaching hospital. The soon-to-be-doctors he's seen so far are so inexperienced that they might as well hand me a medical book and tell me to go home.
My son wasn't speaking 300 words after his 2nd birthday. The pediatrician commented, ""Wow, he only knows 60 words? He should know hundreds more. Do you read to him?"" Her response was insensitive, and it was news to me that a 2 year old should be able to construct sentences with a 300+ vocabulary. She brought in a psychologist. I asked if she could bring in a speech therapist. She said no, I asked why, and she said that I would need a referral to a speech therapist. The psychologist came in and stared at my son for 15 minutes while he was vaccinated and screaming. I didn't quite see the point in having 5 adults in a cramped room just so my could get his shots. It didn't help my son though, and that should be their focus.
Long story short, she referred me to an ENT, not a speech therapist. The appointment made no sense. They seem to do what they are told, and they tell you what they are taught in medical school. They don't have the advantage of experience, where they can explain another situation similar to yours, which might demonstrate a sense of sympathy, understanding, and all those warm and fuzzy things you think of when you visualize a childrens doctor.
If you have something OTHER than medicaid, don't waste your time at OHSU unless your kid has a serious medical condition. Communication, TIME (appointments are only available on a VERY limited basis), efficiency, effectiveness and compassion are lacking. I give it a zero in those areas. I only take him to OHSU for necessary appointments. Every time we enter that place he goes into a fearful and submissive state with a glazed look in his eyes. Those people need some training in customer service or something.
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