Dr. Madeline Ellis, a Board Certified Pediatrician with five years of primary care experience in private practice, is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a member of the Tennessee chapter of the AAP. She received her MD degree from LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans, and completed her internship and residency at Cardinal Glennon Childrens Hospital through St. Louis University. She has been practicing in the Nashville, TN area for almost 2 years,Dr. Ellis strives to treat the whole child when they are diagnosed with ADHD, not only certain symptoms. To accomplish this, she works to create an atmosphere of adequate time spent with patients in the clinic and to help facilitate coordination of obtaining therapies and resources close to home. She will work with your childs primary care doctor to ensure all healthcare needs are met. Dr. Ellis can start the evaluation of a child with signs of ADHD as early as 4 year old, and she accepts patients up to age 21 Focus-MD is a medical practice for children and adults with ADHD and related problems by providing objective testing, medical treatment as well as behavior modification strategies. The evaluation begins before your first visit. Our staff will walk you through the process of getting the rating forms and assessments we need. At the first visit you will spend approximately an hour with the doctor so that he/she can take a careful history and perform a physical examination. Computer assisted testing will be done as well so the entire visit will last 1 to 2 hours. Before you leave the first visit, your doctor will review the findings, make a preliminary diagnosis and provide a treatment plan. The first visit is followed by a second appointment in two to three weeks. Communication is encouraged in the time between the visits to access treatment success and to troubleshoot any problems before the second visit. On the second visit, testing will be to help assess treatment effectiveness and side effects. We follow patients very closely until we find the right dose of the right medication. During this time of dose optimization you will likely see the doctor monthly. Once the correct dose is found routine follow up visits are scheduled every three months to help minimize side effects and monitor for changes in effectiveness.