Pediatrician: Dr. Ellen Hamburger or Dr. Marjorie McKnight? (Tips on how to pick?)
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Anonymous
Interesting. I wondered what McKNight thinks of the changes she surely must be seeing in her own practice which is decades old. when I am there its almost alway white parents with babies or toddlers and the odler kids are almost always AA. |
Anonymous
| Interesting perspective. I am also a new Brookland parent and we use this practice, and I see what others are seeing as well. I personally will only use McKnight at this point - I don't like Washington - but I get frustrated how I cannot speak to a physician when I have a question (I have to go through staff). However, at this point, its very convenient and my daughter so far has had no real health issues, so convenience will win the day... |
Anonymous
| Last I checked (one year ago), Hamburger wasn't accepting new patients. |
Anonymous
Been with the practice since 2015. Delivered at WHC and live within a short bus ride or a long walk, so we figured it would be more convenient to have DC's pediatrician nearby. We saw Workneh a few times before she left and we really liked her. I've seen McKnight on just about all our visits over the last year, and while I trust her experience, she seems to rely too heavily on the ASQ during routine well visits and delivers feedback with a whiff of judgment. Washington seems to always be on-call when something has come up after hours and has been responsive and helpful. We're not planning to find a new pediatrician, but I feel kind of meh about their practice. |
Anonymous
| Been with McKNight for two plus years now. We see Dr. Washington and love her; McKnight doesnt seem to be around too much anymore. I find Dr Washington quite warm but I am super friendly so maybe it forces her to be ha. Our toddler likes her a lot. We have been pleased enough with her care of our two year old that we just brought our newborn to her. Also, we are a white gentrifier family, and I have never felt any racial tension at the Dr's office - not from Drs, staff, or other patients! Seeing that comment up thread really baffles me. |
Anonymous
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We've been with McKnight for about 8 months. I really like her--and am not sure why people don't think she's "warm." She is sweet with the baby, and very calm with the parents, and I'm not sure what else there is to it. Her staff and the nurses and also very sweet, you don't have to wait in the office for long, and whenever my DC has been sick, I get to talk to a dr (usually Washington) very quickly, and they give reasonable advice. My kid has been pretty healthy so far (knocking on wood) with only normal daycare bugs and such, but we did have a couple issues the MFM people wanted to follow up on right when he was born, and I found her calm demeanor very reassuring.
Ultimately, I think you should visualize the following: your daycare/nanny/whoever calls and your kid is projectile vomiting, and you need to come tend to him. Which place is easier to get to? Go with that doctor. |
Anonymous
We are in a similar situation. No problems with the practice, the location is good for us, happy to deal with nurses/staff when I call with questions. Never been concerned with the level of friendliness or felt any tension. Then again, I am not all that sensitive to that kind of stuff. . . they are our doctors, not BFFs. I want competence, compassion, and convenience and they deliver on all three IMO. |
Anonymous
| I think McKnight is on some extended leave now which is a shame, she is the only dr we trust in the practice. Washington is nicer but I don't think nearly as good. Dr. Workneh lasted about 6 months. The practice seems to be grwoing with a lot of the new families in Petworth and Park View joining up but they definitely do not have enough drs to cover the new families. |
Anonymous
| We have an appointment with McKnight next week, so I don't think she's on leave. |
Anonymous
| I have the opposite opinion of most on the practice. DD#1 is 2.5 and we never (not once) saw Dr. Mcknight. Always Washington or Workneh. I like both and feel like the always spent a good amount of time with questions and examing our daughter. DD#2 is 5 months so we have been seeing mainly McKnight but the most recent visit was with Washington. I feel Dr. McKnight spends WAY less time than the others did with #1. I also had to go get a consult at Children's for dairy intolerance - she kept dismissing my concerns. So not overly happy but since I like Washington I will stick with appts with her until I find a better practice. |
Anonymous
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McKnight is nice enough, competent, and experienced, but I agree with PP who said she places too much value on ASQ screening instead of viewing my child as an individual and can come across as judgmental. DD didn't really take to solids until 10-11 months and McKnight made me feel like I was wrong to continue regular breastfeeding when my child refused solids. DD is a very healthy toddler now and eats everything under the sun, but now I'm always guarded when we have well visits because I feel like I'm being judged or like DD is only viewed through the lens of a generic developmental questionnaire. I'm a clinician and while I know I'm not perfect, I'm a knowledgable parent and feel like she has treated me otherwise.
The desk staff and nurses are nice and professional. Workneh was fantastic while she lasted and Washington has come to our rescue after hours on a few occasions. We are planning to stay with the practice, but I've considered looking elsewhere. |
Anonymous
This is my biggest complaint. Woe to you if you find yourself trying to schedule a well-child visit any later than 4-6 weeks before when you are supposed to be seen. On a couple of occasions we've had to reschedule my infant's well-child checkups due to illness or unavoidable conflicts, and it has meant that we have been in the office a month after when we were "supposed" to see the doctor (i.e. 7 months for a 6 month well visit), even when we have given a couple weeks' notice. Less of an issue with an older kid, but I wasn't happy when it meant that my infant's vaccinations were delayed. That being said, despite that, we've stayed with them for a lot of the reasons mentioned by others on this board. The front desk and nursing staff are great, and we almost always see the doctor on time. I actually quite like both Dr. McKnight and Dr. Washington. Both are very good with kids. Dr. Washington in particular always exhibited a lot of warmth toward and fondness for kids when we have seen her. As someone who is sometimes prone to being overly anxious/nervous about things, their very calm, measured demeanors are a nice counterbalance. And while having a small practice has the scheduling problem above, I also appreciate that we know who we will be seeing and that they recognize us when we are there (we've been with the practice for several years), vs. a bigger practice with turnover where we see a different doctor every time. |
Anonymous
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McKnight has a new Dr. in the practice now, though I don't remember her name. I was not impressed with her. Her attention to detail was atrocious and she spent more time looking at the computer than my child during a well child visit.
I also was not impressed with McKnight's receptive communication. Washington seems fine. We'd love to find another practice that was moderately convenient to Brookland, but haven't had much luck. |
Anonymous
| I like Dr. McKnight generally and trust her but I will say she was very dismissive of my plan to exclusively pump after DD just would absolutely not latch. She made me feel like I would never possibly be able to stick with it, and I left in tears (new mom hormones mostly, but also she was being dismissive. And I did stick with it thankyouverymuch). |