By David Lazenby
Editor
When children come into the office of Dr. Shameza L. Boyd, MD, FAAP, they are greeted by Disney princesses, Marvel superheroes and a colorful waiting room that looks as much like a place for play than a location for children’s checkups.The popular characters from animated movies also populate the walls of the rooms where youngsters interact with Boyd, the proprietor of Small Steps Pediatrics, which is conveniently located in suite 201 in the St. Vincent’s East Professional Building 52.
“Every room has some kind of stickers, some kind of design — something,” she said, adding that regular patients often request the room decorated with their favorite theme.
Recently, Dr. Boyd wore to the office a shirt that displayed on the front the word “Fearless” that she bought from a friend who has a business selling clothing adorned with messages inspired by verses from The Bible.
Although Boyd said the shirt spoke to her because her belief in living life without fear, the word might also describe the soothing effect Dr. Boyd’s demeanor has on young patients, many who may have anxiety when they visit a doctor due to shots they received.
Testimony of Boyd’s way with wee ones is displayed on Small Steps Pediatrics Facebook page.
“I love how Dr. Boyd interacts with him,” the mother of one patient wrote in her 5-star review. “She’s always smiling and laughing with him and hasn’t steered us wrong yet.”
Given that Dr. Boyd’s Facebook rating average is 4.8 stars out of 5, it is clear others agree.
“Dr.Boyd is an amazing doctor,” wrote another fan. “She always goes above and beyond. It is very hard these days to find a doctor who truly cares for her patients. She is great with all of our children and she goes out of her way to make sure we have everything they need.”
“She establishes a real relationship with her patients,” said another 5-star review about Dr. Boyd, who opened her office nearly five years ago.
Boyd said she has a message she gives to all her patients’ parents. This communication is her encouragement that they bring their child to see her at least once per year, even if nothing seems to be wrong.
“Kids need to see their pediatrician once every year for a well-child exam,” she said. “A lot of things we do at the checkup can identify and screen for issues before they become problems. Even when you are not sick you need to have a checkup every single year.”
Boyd, who administers to children immunizations, said in recent years she has seen a slight uptick in parents who choose not to have their children immunized.
Generally, she said she does not work with parents who do not want to get their child immunized.
“I feel strongly about immunizations,” Boyd said. “I feel like if we disagree about the immunizations, there are probably going to be some other things that we are going to disagree about, so I probably won’t be the best fit for that.”
Despite the beliefs of some who suspect immunizations are a cause of autism, Boyd said she has had only a handful of clients who decided against immunization shots for their children.
“Usually I ask them what their concerns are,” she said about patients who bring up their concerns about immunization. “Most of the time if you talk to them, and try to figure out why they don’t want the shots and explain ‘You got these same vaccines’ … a lot of times if I put it like that, they’ll say ‘Well you know, I saw something on the Internet, I saw something on Facebook In regard to reports that more children are born with autism than in the past, Boyd said there is a different point of view to consider.
“Kids were autistic before, but now we have a name for it,” she said. “We pick up on it sooner because now we know what it is so we can pick up on it sooner and screen better and diagnose.
It’s not that everyone has autism now,” she said. “It’s just that now you can do testing.”
Boyd said she has found a bigger problem than autism is childhood diabetes, a diagnosis that once was nearly none-existent.
“It’s mainly because the population is getting heavier and heavier so the kids are getting heavier and heavier, so before you were small when you were young but you gained weight when you were older. But now that kids are getting so much larger, we’re seeing the same things we see in adults,” she said. “It’s an epidemic. I’m having to put more and more children on medicine for diabetes.”
Boyd, a Huffman High School alumni who studied at Xavier University in New Orleans before attending medical school in South Alabama University in Mobile, said she has patients from age 1 to 18.
The doctor who is getting ready to celebrate the fifth anniversary of her practice adds that she has had several patients who wanted her to remain their doctor after they had turned 19.
To schedule an appointment with Dr. Boyd, call 205-868-3486. For more information, visit the practice’s website, at www.smallstepspediatrics.com.