Doctors Linda Stein Gold and Hilary Baldwin share tips for dealing with young patients and their parents
Navigating the parent-child dynamic can be tricky. We spoke with Drs. Linda Stein Gold and Hilary Baldwin about how they navigate these often-complicated relationships with a relentless focus on the patient.
This discussion is part of the Galderma Experts Series in which we speak with world-renowned leaders in dermatology about patient care and practice management.
DR. BALDWIN: My biggest problem is when the teen and the mother don't get along, and they don't get along in front of me. They're being rude to each other and disrespectful to each other, and then I end up sort of ignoring Mom, because he or she is my patient, and I have to take her out of the equation. And sometimes I say, "Mom, perhaps it would be better if you left the room for a little while." Do you ask the mother to leave?
DR. STEIN GOLD: If I need to, but I agree with you. It has to be a patient-centric interview, a patient-centric appointment. That patient should feel like they are the center of the world when they're sitting in that room, and that then empowers them to have more control over their treatment.
DR. BALDWIN: Yep. I force myself to talk to the teenager, even the one who isn't looking, even the one who – I'm supposed to be talking to him, and he's looking at how the chair works and his nails and I still talk directly to him, and I try not to talk to the mother, very difficult to do.
DR. STEIN GOLD: It is. It is, but, Hilary, thank you.
