It is the time of year that we Pediatricians start seeing more kids for school and sports physicals. Here in Virginia, any sports physical done after May 1st is good for the following school year (so fall, winter and spring sports are covered). I admit that I have a bias toward having your regular pediatrician do your child's physical. I have seen too many kids go to "Urgent Care" facilities or "School Physical day" at various schools (staffed by volunteers) in which important things were missed or possible medical problems were not addressed.
Here are some things that are covered by a sports physical:
Growth parameters - weight, height; if your child has lost or gained a significant amount of weight (again, previous weights/heights are important info that your pediatrician's office has in your child's medical record). Children grow quickly, and weight gain may not be worrisome if there is also a corresponding growth in height. We can calculate a Body Mass Index (BMI) that takes both weight and height into account together.
Vision screening - if your child wears glasses or contacts, we may want to know what their vision is both with and without their corrective lenses; we may recommend that your child wear corrective lenses while playing sports, depending on their eyesight.
Assessment of pubertal development, screening for hernias or testicular problems in boys
Assessment of menstrual history for girls
Screening labwork - including blood counts, urinalysis, cholesterol; we may be able to perform these tests in our office.
Blood pressure measurement - If your child has an elevated blood pressure (or high cholesterol), this will be something that we want to continue monitoring
Cardiac (heart) screening for risk factors leading to heart disease including assessment of heart murmurs
Assessment of any sports-related injuries that you may have sustained in the previous year; ideally, a sports physical should be done 6 weeks prior to beginning sports in order to determine if any physical therapy or rehab is needed in the interim; for example, ankle sprains are common injuries, and athletes may need to wear an ankle brace or sports splint to prevent re-injury
Assessment of current diet and nutritional intake - some teens skip meals or do not get enough calcium or iron; we can make recommendations based on our interview with you
This is also the time to mention any issues that you are worried about with your child. A teen who has a relationship with their pediatrician is more likely to be honest with us about sensitive topics, which they may not mention to someone they have never seen before.
Get into the habit of scheduling well visits for your children. As physicians, we feel that this is important.
