Advanced Pediatrics

The practice has some advantages and disadvantages. Walk in hours for sick kids is great. Charging $ 20 per form per child for something that takes two minutes to fill out is excessive. I am a physician and I realize these forms add up, but I think $ 5-​$ 10 per form is more palatable. Biggest negative to this practice is Dr. Schwartz. If you are going to use this practice, avoid him altogether. He is rude, arrogant, and condescending. This is coupled with the fact that he is not up-​to-​date on current AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommendations. He has prescribed unnecessary antibiotics for my child and attempted to perform a medically unnecessary procedure. If you use the practice, I recommend seeing one of the other partners.

They charged us a $ 20 fee to get the records for EACH child! We had it with this practice when I brought in one of my kids because she was breaking out after eating certain foods. We would observe what she ate but could not figure out what it was. Figuring they would do a prick test or semd us to an allergist, they did neither. Basically, we were told watch what see eats and that there was a test they could do, but it wasn’t effective. Why would you present me with an option that wasn’t effective. The entire time, the Dr. was talking down to me. I find out later he’s one of the guys who owns and started the practice.
I’ve lost faith in this practice from this experience. When I ask for my kids’ records, they want to pick my pocket one last time by charging a $ 20 fee EACH for their records. Needless to say, I would not recommend this office.

My husband and I live in DC now, but still make the drive out to Vienna to come to Advanced Pediatrics. We started coming when our daughter was a newborn and in our almost-​2 years at the practice, we have been incredibly impressed with every doctor, nurse, NP, after-​hours call-​line nurse, and receptionist that we have met here. Staff are all welcoming and empathetic, doctors listen and spend time with us, the lactation consultant Lori spent countless visits with me to help get my fussy feeder (and mastitis) in control. There are amazing walk-​in hours, we never wait around for doctors or nurses, there is a spacious sick waiting room for kids who are germy, getting appointments is never a challenge, we don’t wait on hold when we call, and the facilities are all always impeccably clean and well-​kept. We tried moving to a practice closer to us in DC, but none of the places we visited or called came close to Advanced Pediatrics.
The only less than stellar experiences we have had have actually been with Dr. Schwartz, the founding doctor of the practice, because he often seems too busy to spend time with us and can be rather brusque, but we know other people adore him, so we may have just caught him on off days.

Just took our newborn for his first unscheduled doctor’s appointment due to a possible eye infection. We saw Dr. Schwartz (who actually saw my husband on occasion when he was little) & he did a fantastic job of explaining the issue and the appropriate course of treatment. I have seen other posts critical of his bedside manner and I can honestly say he was very warm & caring with us and our child. A large part of the reason we chose this practice is because of Dr. Schwartz’s excellent diagnostic skills — several parents told us that he will not stop until he figures out what is wrong with your child. That is exactly the sort of person I want treating my son & I would much rather he focused on puzzling out what is going on with my kid than doing a lot of parental handholding. We have been in the office 4 times in the past week (mostly for jaundice & weight checks) and each visit has reconfirmed that we picked the right practice — the level of care we received has been excellent across the board. I cannot finish this review without singling out Lori, the practice’s lactation consultant, who saved our sanity during a rough first week (my milk was very late to come in). She offered a wealth of practical guidance & advice that gave us a clear and simple to understand path to achieving our breastfeeding goals when we were too sleep deprived to know left from right. Most importantly, her highest priority was ensuring that our son’s immediate nutritional needs were met. She did an incredible job of reassuring us that what we needed to do in the short term to keep our son fed & thriving would not derail our long-​term goal of exclusively breastfeeding. As a new mom, it was incredibly comforting to be able to have a very frank discussion of our feeding options in a judgment-​free zone. I cannot thank Lori enough for her support and kindness when I felt like I was at the end of my rope.

I just want to write an update about this wonderful practice. Now that we have been going here for almost two years, I just don’t have enough words to describe how great this practice is. The doctors are very professional and knowledgeable AND great with kids (including NPs), the nurses are all very nice and sweet. The office is clean and bright with plenty of books in each room.
My child was very sick with a bad virus and had to be taken to the emergency room in the middle of the night. During our follow up visit at Advanced Pediatrics, the doctor was very surprised the emergency room doctors did not run any tests on my child given the high fever he had then and ordered to run the tests right away in the office, despite the fact it was already past 6 pm. Luckily everything was fine, but I was very grateful and surprised at the amount of concern, sympathy and responsibility Dr. Schwartz showed towards our situation.
I highly recommend this practice to anyone looking for responsible, knowledgeable and compassionate pediatricians.
I must also add that the front desk personnel has improved significantly.
Some of the other features you might like: walk-​in hours every day, evening appointments for extra $$, in-​office tests, some of the high tech vision tests, very responsive on-​call doctors and NPs outside of business hours, Saturday appointments for flu shots and sick children, very cool separate sick room with lots of toys.

This review covers my initial 2 check-​ups for my newborn at Advanced Pediatrics, and more specifically, the lactation consultant Lori Schubert. We were experiencing initial challenges with breastfeeding and were concerned that our baby was not getting the necessary nutrients because of too little milk and also that my wife was going through unnecessary discomfort. We had previously spent three days in the hospital during which we saw several hospital lactation consultants and also received advice from multiple nurses who provide initial breast feeding tips to patients every day.
Despite following their advice, my wife was still experiencing significant pain and our baby was also not gaining weight. That is, until we met with Lori Schubert. Lori gave us more practical, easy to implement advice on breastfeeding in 10 minutes than we had received in 3 days at the hospital. She explained anatomy challenges that were unique to my wife and did not provide a one size fits all approach. She provided specific recommendations which gave us the confidence that we could continue breastfeeding, and the tools to be able to do so. Lori provided her personal cell phone # and email address and welcomed our questions at any time. She was a godsend.
After applying Lori’s recommendations, our baby gained 3 ounces in two days, my wife began producing more milk — and more importantly, experienced little discomfort doing so. Our baby will experience the long-​term benefits of breast feeding thanks to Lori. Any new mother having difficulties breastfeeding should definitely talk to her.

This practice does well enough for basic, perfunctory check-​ups. However, we recently went to Dr. Schwartz’s following an emergency situation with our child. Dr. Schwartz provided extremely questionable medical advice, and recommended archaic aggressive and invasive testing (despite the fact that AAP recommendations did not warrant such an outlandish, aggressive, and rushed approach). He was extremely stubborn in his approach to care, refusing to explain his rationale for his suggested treatment plan.
Thankfully we had the good sense to know something was extremely off about his baffling and inhumane recommendations, and quickly visited a very prominent pediatrician for a second opinion. Not only was she able to confirm that the tests Dr. Schwartz recommended were highly invasive, and traumatic for a child, but also that, in our child’s case, were unnecessary and overly aggressive given her clinical presentation. Perhaps most importantly, she treated our child and us with respect and compassion– which was nowhere to be found with Dr. Schwartz.
Another shocking aspect of our ordeal with Dr. Schwartz was that he refused to speak with us over the phone, relying only on his ill-​prepped nurses to relay communication. Dr. Schwartz insisted that this was an emergency situation that needed to be dealt with immediately. Yet, despite urging this was an emergency situation (which we learned later that this was either untrue, overly dramatic, or a misdiagnosis on his part), Dr. Schwartz made himself personally unavailable. We were told that if we needed to speak to him to get clarification on his recommendations or diagnosis, we would have to make an appointment to see him in person (presumably because you cannot charge insurance for a phone call to a patient). Whereas our second opinion physician, undoubtedly busier than Dr. Schwartz given her expertise and reputation, followed up several times to ensure our child was progressing well and even provided her cell phone number for us if we needed to contact her.
As a member of a family full of doctors, I can say without hesitation that the consensus opinion of several medical professionals is that Dr. Schwartz’s treatment of patients and approach to medicine is subpar at best, unethical at worst, and had we gone ahead with his recommendations, would have likely amounted to malpractice. As a wise local pediatric ER doctor said [of Dr. Schwartz], «Sometimes doctors just do not know when to retire.»
UPDATE: After posting this review, Advanced Pediatrics violated HIPPA laws by repeatedly calling our new practice’s office in an attempt to get my daughter’s updated diagnosis and treatment, without our permission — and in fact, in direct contravention to our explicit written request that they not be given access to her file.

I was initially impressed with the practice — not much waiting and easy to make an appointment. The front desk often seems annoyed but whatever. We saw Dr. Schwartz who was very curt and didn’t really want to answer my questions. At another appointment the NP told me my 18 month old didn’t have strep — despite having been exposed by this brothers to it, having all the symptoms, and having a positive strep test done in their office. She said it was more likely he had polio (he hasn’t had his polio shot yet) and that an AB wouldn’t likely work (it did). Undeterred, I tried Dr. Martin for well-​childs for my other children. He promised to get them up-​to-​date with their shots, only to change his mind after learning my son has epilepsy. But he didn’t tell me during the appointment. He wrote a letter that night and sent it certified mail. In far too many words he said he couldn’t be our ped anymore. He wouldn’t talk on the phone to me. I know a lot of people really like him, but for us, the whole office was a flop.

I am giving poor ratings, because of a recent experience I had with this practice. I have been going to this practice ever since my son was born about 1 ½ yrs. Wait time isn’t too long for visit, but the examination completed by doctors are usual quick and not very throrough. It seems as if most of the doctors just go through examinations as if its a regular routine. They do charge extra for non routine labs and earlier and late hour office visits. At first, I was so proud to go to a great practice because of awards some doctors received which is a bit deceiving I think. My son has seen Dr. Schwartz, Dr Weaver, Dr Martin on and NP Trish on several occasion and all did not properly diagnose in a timely manner. It is upsetting to me because I have mentioned my concerns to them on multiple occasions but I feel that it was not translated to be a concern to be made as a referral. It is understandable if something so critical was missed once or twice at a routine office visit (combination of well and sick), but to have been given about 10 opportunities and with 3 different licensed doctors and nurse practitioner is very disturbing. If you do choose to go to this practice, Dr Yoo may be a better choice than the other doctors. She is more thorough and detail oriented than the other doctors of the practice. I would personally recommend you to find a practice who not only listens but one who actually takes the time to make thorough evaluation and builds a rapport and not an in and out service type environment.

They are terrible. Find another place to take your children.

As a mother of twins less than a year old, I would drive any distance to go to this office. The Nurses, and Physicians are top notch. One of my twins had an emergency while at his first appointment a week after being born and everyone handled the situation like true professionals. My son had to be transferred to the hospital from the office and they handled everything the way you would want any Pediatrician office to do in the event it is needed.
I trust my twins life to not only Dr Schwartz, but all of the nurses and physicians at this office. They deserve 10 stars in my book.

As a mother of five, I feel fortunate to have found an amazing practice with talented doctors. We just relocated from Denver to the area and, as you can imagine, finding the right doctor is imperative. It is a relationship not just a drive by… In addition, to make it «worse», our pediatrician in Denver was one of the BEST. The practice there was comprised of Children’s Hospital Emergency Room Doctors who, not only had an amazing bedside manner, but also were extremely talented. They had the child’s best interest at hand.
After looking for a practice over the 2011 summer, I am pleased to report that we selected Advanced Pediatrics. The doctors, nurses and office staff take their role very seriously. I thoroughly appreciate their flexibility and drive to take care of the child through normal and emergency situations. When we are there, the office staff treats us with the respect that we deserve and ensure that our time in the waiting room is limited. When we have time with the doctors, they are diligent and caring with the goal to take care of the health of the child. Even though I do consider myself to be an «expert» by just having the five children, I come across situations where Dr. Schwartz’s experience, expertise and training were in high demand.

For nearly 13 years I had taken my two children to see Dr. Schwartz and his associates. We followed him from another practice and we moved from one office to another. For the last 6 years of our relationship we have driven 35 – 40 minutes to his practice because we believed it was worth it. I referred at least 12 families to this practice.
Please note that the above paragraph is written in past tense, for a reason.
While Dr. Schwartz can be a bit abrasive, I always accepted it as matter of fact and «in a zone». Over the years it has become nearly impossible to see Dr. Schwartz and we ended up seeing other doctors, who were not as experienced as Dr. Schwartz. One doctor, who has had two children since we have been going to the office, was often visibly exhausted.
Over the years we have generally waited 15 – 25 minutes to see the doctor, sometimes waiting up to 45 minutes. We waited patiently. We were always on time and I am not exaggerating. Always on time. We pay our bills promptly and send the practice holiday cards.
I have been devastated over the past few years to see the front office part of the practice deteriorate into a group of rude, impatient, inefficient, unprofessional, incompetent staff. This front office gives Dr. Schwartz and the few good nurses, a really bad name.
In the past few years, I have had the front office chase me into the sick child waiting room, with my child vomiting, and ask me to pay a bill. A bill so new that I had not even received it yet. I have been asked to wait longer while another person was seen in front of me and I did it willingly.
I have had the front desk staff insist that I prepay a co-​pay, even though my plan does not have a co-​pay (I asked them to note this in our file for future reference, only to be told, appointment after appointment, that I needed to pay a co-​pay).
I recently had an experience that finally has me moving to another practice. For the very first time, we were running late. Everyone was running late. Traffic in Tyson’s was horrendous. My husband was 20 minutes late. Let me remind you, this was the first time, it was 20 minutes and we always wait at least 15 or more minutes to see a doctor anyways.
My husband was told that his appointment was cancelled because he was 20 minutes late and that he could come back 2 ½ hours later. He attempted to talk with the front desk staff to see if there was another solution, possibly see another doctor, wait to see if someone else did not show for their appointment, maybe a nurse could see our child. No — he was told that the procedure, since he was more than 15 minutes late, was that he would have to make another appointment. I get it, they are trying to run a business, but we have been patients for nearly 13 years and he was willing to try other options. It had, in the traffic, taken him over an hour to get there. Our child had a raging fever, sore throat and was congested and coughing. Two women at the front desk ganged up on him, repeating, over and over, there was nothing they could do.
So, we decided to move to a practice closer to our home. When we requested our records we received a nasty letter from Dr. Schwartz. When we called he would not speak to us.
Nice treatment after being so loyal for so long and referring business to him. Nice treatment after waiting so many hours over the years in the waiting room. Nice treatment after dealing with an occasional misdiagnosis which required us to come back or go to a specialist for a second opinion.
Ironically, another woman came in while the front desk was berating my husband and she too was exasperated by the traffic. By the time my husband finally acquiesced, the other woman’s child was being weighed and escorted to an exam room.
Oh, and for my daughter, we took her to urgent care. She had the flu and it was serious. You see, she is asthmatic with a long list of allergies so things go badly quickly.
Good news, we have found a great new friendly doctor in our area to start building a relationship with and start referring friends to. I was so glad to see (on Unilocal) that others have had unfortunate experiences with this office as well — at least we are not alone.

We love advanced pediatrics. As a first time mom, I was scared of everything when my daughter was born! They assuaged my fears and were so helpful! I love the availability of early morning appts and saturday appts. The after-​hours advice line is also wonderful.
Dr. Martin is amazing. Our daughter loves him and more important, I trust him 100%. He has an amazing bedside manner.
Anytime my daughter’s been sick, they have always made time for us to come in very quickly.
I love this practice– and I would recommend them to everyone!

Wow, I am surprised by the reivew from 11/​17/​2010. I have been bringing my children to Dr. Schwartz for about 20 years. I followed him when he started his own practice 10 years ago. He is one of the best diagnosticians in the area. He is brilliant and has a great repoire with children. We have seen all the other pediatricicans in the practice and they are all wonderful and caring. Many of my friends bring their children here also and love the practice. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and unfortuneately only the disgruntled ones usually do the posting

Initially impressed with their no nonsense approach, I thought we wouldn’t have to look any further after our first introductory visit. The evening information session for expectant mothers helped break us into the world of parenting and really helped me (not so much my wife) understand the basics of baby «needs» versus «wants».
For example, sterilizing your bottles after every use is not «needed» if you properly wash them. After all when you breastfeed the baby, you don’t sterilize your nipple with scalding hot water! OUCH!!! Also all those cute little decorative blankets, pillows, pads, toys for the crib… get rid of them… they only add a layer of hazard and not comfort. This was useful advice to help deter my wife from adding almost every useless thing inside the crib.
They seem to run a pretty good practice here, however the thing that really turned us off was the fact that when we were waiting for our baby’s cord to fall off, we were told by everyone to just let if fall off naturally. When we came in for a checkup, the top part of the cord had recently fallen off, but there was still more to the bottom part that was still attached. While the the nurse was examining the baby’s belly button, my wife made it clear she didn’t want the nurse to pull the rest of it out, to the point that I embarrassingly told my wife…“of course she’s not going to pull it off”. The next minute or so the nurse kept wiggling the cord, until finally and incredulously, me and my wife wiggled the cord right off!!! I really couldn’t believe my eyes!!! We just told her we didn’t want her to do that, but she did anyway!!! We were in total shock when she then said, I need to chemically burn the belly button shut because it hadn’t completely sealed up!!! Needless to say the next few days, puss oozed out of her belly button. At that point we were extremely dissatisfied.
I really liked this pediatrics, but not respecting the wishes of the parents??? That’s a BIG NO-​NO!!! Ultimately this procedure is really not a big deal, and I’m sure our baby was never in any danger, but the principle that the nurse would ignore our wishes is just unacceptable. I obviously had to wait to write this review until we found a new pediatrician and the final insult was when we had to pay an administrative fee to have the medical paperwork transfered to another office. Apparently it’s standard procedure though.
I wouldn’t necessarily discourage people from going here, as they are able to do their own labs (thus the name Advanced Pediatrics) versus other pediatric offices that send them out to get done. This could be important if you need to identify the source of an illness right away.

This is probably only one of a few medical offices I’ve been in during my lifetime that I don’t mind coming to. With Liam having a bit of jaundice (who knew that Asian babies were at a higher risk), the staff, nurses and doctors all were very accommodating with the need for a daily appointment. The office does take residents so you also might be in for a treat as the attending diagnoses and makes a treatment plan only to bring the resident in and have them take a crack at it. The Socratic method does lend itself to some entertainment on occasion, but I don’t think it’s nearly as funny as in Korea where the doctors end up cussing at the slower students. I think we’ll keep this set of docs in our new boy’s life.

We’ve been so happy with this pediatrician. We’re always able to get convenient appointments, they have excellend evening and weekend hours. The doctors and staff are great and very caring. A good as it gets!