My Job Keeps Me Fit

“There is a double in 3 and a triple in 4, and I think all five have COVID”. Translated from medical office lingo to English it means: there is a car with two sick kids waiting for me in parking spot number 3, and another with three siblings in parking spot number 4. And in 20 minutes we find out that they do indeed all have COVID.

Since the beginning of COVID era we see sick patients in the cars in the parking lot. The well visits are still seen inside, in our office on the second floor. This way we somewhat reduce the risk of spreading the virus from the sick to the well patients. To further reduce the [Continue reading…]

“Send it to CVS” (a Flu Season Story)

Young parents brought their son to my clinic on Saturday. The boy’s test for influenza came out positive. How the dad reacts is priceless. [Continue reading…]

Anna Strumba MD Receives 2011 Compassionate Doctor Recognition

Most Compassionate Doctor (2011)

It’s the second year in a row that Anna Strumba MD, a West Bloomfield/ Novi pediatrician and lactation consultant, has been recognized as one of America’s Most Compassionate Doctors. The award is based on patients’ reviews. “While physicians generally receive positive feedback from their patients, only a select few receive praise about the compassion that accompanied their care… Of the nation’s 720,000 active physicians, less than 3% were accorded this honor by their patients in 2011,” Vitals.com, who tabulates this award, says.

The Compassionate Doctor Recognition crowns the list of four other professional and patient awards that Anna Strumba received earlier in 2011: Patients’ Choice Award by Vitals.com, Mom-Approved Doc by Metro Parent Magazine, Continuing Medical Education/ Continuing Professional [Continue reading…]

Dr. Strumba Is Now an IBCLC

Hurray! I have achieved a certification and a title of an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). My full name became a bit longer: Anna Strumba MD, FAAP, IBCLC.

One may wonder, “why would a doctor want to become a lactation consultant?” In my work as a pediatrician I frequently have to take care of the babies that are breastfed. In fact, in most situations that means to take care of both: baby and mother. For the baby to be growing and thriving, the mother has to know how to latch and nurse in [Continue reading…]

2011 Mom Approved Doc, Officially

Metro Parent Mom-Approved Doc Award (2011)

Thank you for voting me to the Metro Parent’s 2011 Mom Approved Docs! I was so humbled to receive the following comment from one of the parents:

She is kind, understanding, honest and trustworthy. Although she is busy, she never makes me feel rushed and returns my calls in a timely fashion. My son had an ongoing health issue, and she gave us contacts for the specialists and made phone calls to those doctors to give information and receive updates. – Michelle, Troy

Attending the Lactation Specialist Course

Women have been helping other women breastfeed for millennia. As a pediatrician and as a woman I daily work together with mothers to prevent and solve breastfeeding problems. I feel it will be only appropriate for me to seek the International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) credential. Next week (the week of November 1, 2010) I will be out of town attending an intensive 5-day Lactation Specialist Course offered by Lactation Education Consultants. This course qualifies participants for the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE) certification exam.