Nurse practitioners actually have more schooling than a doctor. They have to be a full R.N. before they can become a N.P.
I always look for a doctor I can get along with and who listens to me. I'm the one who knows my children. I've had my current pediatrician for about 6 years and he is fantastic.
You're right I had an interview today and the nurse practitioner was there and she also sees children sometimes instead of the Dr, I don't like that either.
Yes to the above. Also, ask who will be seeing your child for appts when ill. At my previous Ped's office, 90% of the time it was the Nurse Practitioner that we would see. This bothered me bc I was paying for a DOCTOR to see my sick or troubled child, not a nurse. They would tell me that the nurse can do anything the Doc would do. To which I would reply "has the nurse gone to med school?". Nothing against nurses...but there is a reason we have Doctors, and I am charged the same price as if it was a Doctor's visit. My current pediatrician insists on seeing all of her patients personally. And I really like that much better.
Info I can think of are: Does the doc share call with anyone else, after hours paging--what happens if you try to reach them for a fever at say 10 at night, is the doc on staff at your planned delivery hospital, would they visit newborn in the hospital, how long does it take to get a regular appt, do you and doc share views on vaccines like regular vaccines and flu shots, what urgent care is closest, do they do X-rays in same clinic as docs office, where's the closest lab & pharmacy to the clinic and last--who covers when doc goes on vacation