Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Mike Smith:
With us this week is Dr. Rodger Sayre, a homeschool father and family physician. Rodger, the doctor-patient relationship can become very stressful, as you know, for homeschooling families whose doctors view their educational choice with suspicion. How can parents respond to such a situation?

Dr. Rodger Sayre:
Mike, it depends on the relationship they have with their physician.

If there’s a general lack of trust in the relationship, I think it’s best to go looking for another doctor. You know, you can’t emphasize enough how important trust is between a patient and their doctor. A physician that does not trust his patient is likely to have a “guilty until proven innocent” attitude toward them. And in some cases, that could even result in an unwarranted report to the child protective services for simple things like bruises or other common childhood trauma. So if a parent does not think that it’s possible to overcome unwarranted doubts regarding their parental qualifications, I would suggest establishing care elsewhere.

Hopefully though, the association with a family doctor is well grounded in mutual respect and trust, and the suspicion that you mentioned in your question is merely limited to a friendly disagreement about educational choice. Under this type of circumstance, the relationship can and should be maintained. Who knows? Maybe a parent can even help their physician to see the light with respect to the advantages of homeschooling.

Mike:
Great advice, Rodger. I’m Mike Smith.