Sick Visits
If your child has symptoms that you are concerned about that have been going on for fewer than two weeks, and addressing those symptoms is the main purpose for the visit, the visit is a sick visit. If you call in the morning, we will make every effort to try to get your child in for a sick visit that same day. While we strive to try to alleviate whatever discomfort your child is having, the main goal is to address the cause of the symptoms and treat that underlying cause. For example, a child may come in with fever, runny nose and congestion, and cough from a viral upper respiratory infection, and while treating her fever and cold symptoms may help her to feel better, doing so will not actually help her get better. In this particular example, since the cause of her symptoms is viral, only time and her own immune system will actually clear the infection, and sometimes blocking the symptoms may actually increase the likelihood of developing complications.
Do I Need to Make a Doctor's Appointment for my Child?
Note that some sick visits will be conducted outside if there is any concern on the part of the doctor that the symptoms could be consistent with an infection with airborne spread such as COVID-19. Certain types of sick visits may be able to be done via a telemed appointment, but this may not be possible if there are certain aspects of the physical exam that would provide important data for consideration as to the most likely diagnosis.