• Job: Pediatrician, Alpharetta

KARL W. RITZLER/Special (ENLARGE)

Dr. Barb Steele has been a pediatrician for 16 years and is starting to treat children whose parents once were her patients. She is the lone doctor at Children's Medicine of Alpharetta and strives to combat the stereotype that doctors are more concerned about profits than about people.

• What I do: Dr. Barb Steele thinks of herself as a "throwback to the old country doctor."

She's in practice by herself, although in a distinctly modern setting — an office that looks more like a boutique in a small mall.

She takes a personal interest in her patients, and she makes sure she has the time to spend with them.

"I'm able to do a style of pediatrics that's not seen: personalized care," said Steele, 47.

At Children's Medicine of Alpharetta, her patients see the same doctor on every visit, providing a consistency of care that's sometimes missing at large practices, she said.

What she wants to avoid is "the overall gestalt — doctors rushing you, being insensitive, not caring about you, arriving late . . ."

She quickly points out that not all individual doctors or practices are like that, and she said that she and many of her colleagues do return phone calls and keep in contact with families.

One reason Steele has the time to concentrate on medicine is that the practice is owned by an investor, who takes care of most of the business side of it. Steele is an independent contractor who works for the business.

"As a pediatrician, I see children from birth to age 21 for well-child care and sick concerns," she said.

Those health concerns don't stop at looking inside an infected ear or providing vaccinations.

Steele confers with parents about behavioral problems, does work-ups for possible ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), and offers what she calls "anticipatory guidance" on topics such as sex, drugs and bicycle helmets.

She discusses fire drills and poison control with parents.

When children reach age 3 or 4, she said, she talks directly with them about the dangers of going near firearms in a house and talking to strangers.

While doctors don't become pediatricians unless they love children, she said, "you also have to love parents."

Steele is single and has no children, but she thinks of her patients as "my kids." After 16 years in the field, she has started to see some second-generation patients, the children of children she cared for years ago.

• What got me interested in this: "When I was 5, I announced I was going to be a doctor taking care of babies and kids," she said.

Why she said that is a mystery to Steele. She doesn't remember a particularly dramatic incident in her life, not even the name of her own pediatrician.

The daughter of a steelworker in Pennsylvania, she was the oldest child in her family and the first to go to college.

"I was baby-sitting constantly," she said, and helped take care of her three siblings.

• Best part of my job: "I'm in a job where I can be independent," Steele said. "I'm doing a job that has some small impact on people's lives."

• Most challenging part: "Dealing with insurance companies, Medicaid and vaccine companies . . . who dictate what medicines, which hospitals, what therapy" she can use.

It's also difficult dealing with young patients who have terminal illnesses or families of children who die in accidents, she said.

• What people don't know about my job: The need to overcome the image of doctors who are not sensitive to their patients' needs.

"You are a person, and you are important to me," she says of her patients and their families.

• What keeps me going: "I know that I'm appreciated — not a boss telling me I'm appreciated, but my families appreciating me," Steele said. "I indirectly save people's lives — not many people can say that."

• Preparation needed for this job: A medical degree usually requires four years of medical school after earning a bachelor's degree. Pediatricians complete a three-year residency after medical school.

All physicians must be licensed in the state where they practice, and it's generally expected that they will be board-certified in their fields of specialization.

Most newer pediatricians must be recertified every seven years, Steele said.

Steele said a physician in a solo practice must have the patience to take a phone call at 2 a.m., even if it isn't an emergency, and the drive to stay current with continuing education in medicine.

She said it also helps to be a forward thinker, have a good sense of humor and be a good listener.

"Patients want a safe place to talk," she said. "And you have to be honest, especially with kids."

Steele earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Virginia — "I knew I was going to get four years of science in medical school, so I majored in psych" — and her medical degree from Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk.

She completed her residency at Emory University Hospital and also worked at Grady Memorial Hospital as part of the residency.

Steele joined a medical practice in Roswell after finishing her residency but left because it had grown so big. She began her solo practice last March.

- By Karl W. Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@ajc.com.