What to Expect at your upcoming physical:

Medical history: Your primary care professional will review your relevant medical history, meaning they will ask you about any major illnesses you have had in the past, any surgeries you have undergone, your current medical conditions and the medications you’re taking.

Medications: We will review all the vitamins, minerals, herbal supplements and prescription medications that you take. Please bring a complete list including dosage and how often you take it or bring the pill bottles.

Family Medical History: We will update any new items with regards to your family’s medical history and discuss its possible impact on you.

Recommended Screenings: We will review recommended screenings and if and when it was last done. Examples of screenings include: colonoscopy, pap smear, diabetic eye exam, prostate exam, mammogram, bone density test, etc. Please bring copies of reports or a list of dates to the visit. There is more information below regarding who needs these screenings and how often.

Immunizations: We will go over the recommended immunizations based on your age and risk factors. Please bring dates of any immunizations you have received in the past if available.

The Exam:

Head to Toe Exam including:

Vital Signs (Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, Respiration Rate, Temperature)

Might also include: For Males – prostate, testicular and hernia exams; For Women – breast and pelvic exams

Routine Tests:

Cholesterol Blood Test- identifies elevations that may put you at risk for heart disease and other chronic conditions

Complete Blood Count (CBC)- looks at red blood cells and white blood cells. Identifies anemia and abnormalities with white blood cells.

Metabolic Panel- checks electrolytes, blood sugar, kidney function, and liver function.

Thyroid- checks this hormone level

Prostate- a screening test for men starting at age 40 (unless there is family history or other reasons to do testing earlier). This combined with physical exam and compared with previous helps to look for signs of prostate cancer.

Hemoglobin A1C- this is an average of blood sugars over the past 3 months. For diabetics, it assesses how well controlled your sugars are. Also used as a way to identify pre-diabetes and diabetes.