School physicals are more than a checkbox. For pediatric health care providers, back-to-school season means physical season.
While a welcomed reprieve from the tummy aches and runny noses of the winter viral season, school physical season also represents a critical checkpoint in the preventative care of children.
During a school physical, pediatric providers begin by reviewing basic measurements of a child’s health, like height, weight, blood pressure and heart rate. Abnormalities in these measurements can serve as important indicators of underlying pathology, including hormonal, metabolic or cardiac conditions.
Providers then spend time engaging in conversation with the patient and family, gathering information on key topics affecting a child’s wellbeing, such as nutrition, sleep patterns, mental health and development. Vision and hearing screens are obtained, and a comprehensive physical exam is performed, followed by age-appropriate immunizations to protect against serious childhood illnesses.
For an otherwise healthy child, these routine visits offer an opportunity for families to develop a relationship with their primary care provider and maintain an ongoing connection should future concerns arise. These visits also create a framework through which providers may more easily detect subtle changes in a child’s health, facilitating early disease identification and intervention.
For young athletes, physicals provide an additional layer of protection by screening for conditions which may place children at increased risk of serious injury or cardiac events.
And for children with more complex or chronic medical needs, physicals enable primary care providers to assess that symptoms are well-controlled, medications are appropriately managed and care with subspecialty providers is coordinated, all vital steps in reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with chronic disease.
In an era where healthcare delivery has become increasingly problem-based and fragmented, preserving well visits with a primary care pediatric provider ensures that children are receiving a quality, evidence-based approach to preventive care, with an emphasis on both physical and mental wellness.
So as the busy back-to-school season begins and scheduling a school physical seems like one more checkbox on a never-ending list of “to-dos,” caregivers should be reminded of the valuable role these visits play in optimizing the health of their child for the coming year and beyond.
Shannon MacGregor is a pediatrician at Compass Health Network.