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Robert P. Lindeman, MD, PhD A pediatric pulmonologist is a pediatrician who specializes in disorders of the lung. In order to become a board-certified pediatric pulmonologist, I enrolled in a 3-year fellowship training program at Boston Children’s Hospital, immediately following my residency in general pediatrics. At the end of the fellowship I sat for a board exam that completed my certification. Now I am "double-boarded", which is to say that I practice a sub-specialty (pulmonology) in addition to my primary specialty, general pediatrics.
Many patients with asthma are cared for by allergists instead of pulmonologists. Some are cared for by both. This is not an ideal situation because, when it comes to asthma, there is not a great deal of difference between what I do as a pulmonologist and what an allergist does (but see below). My patients with asthma who also see an allergist get slightly different advice from each of us and end up confused. The technical term for this phenomenon is "fragmentation of care". I try to avoid this. The reason to see a pulmonologist instead of an allergist for asthma is that I focus more closely on lung function. In my office I perform a sophisticated type of lung function testing called "spirometry". My spirometer is able to detect subtle changes in lung function that a peak-flow meter cannot. This is why I discourage peak-flow meters for the purpose of tracking asthma symptoms. I find symptom diaries are much more accurate. In addition I participate in an asthma care quality improvement program with the Pediatric Physicians of Children’s (PPOC). We are investigating ways to improve the quality of life for our patients with asthma. Besides asthma, there are a number of lung problems that I see as a pulmonologist:
For more information about Natick Pediatrics, or to talk to the doctor, please call the office at (508) 655-9699.
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When I was at Boston Children’s, the majority of my patients had Cystic Fibrosis (CF). CF is a genetic disease that affects primarily the lungs and the intestines. When I left Children’s at the end of fellowship, the majority of my lung patients had asthma. For these patients the family and I create an asthma-management plan, and we track the patient’s symptoms and lung function during regularly scheduled appointments.