Children and adolescents often are required to undergo a physical before they can enroll in school, participate in sports, or attend camp, and your child's primary care practice is here to serve your needs.

The purpose of pre-activity physicals is to:

• Identify medical conditions that could make participation unsafe
• Screen for previously undetected health problems
• Ensure adequate rehabilitation of previous injuries

Sports physicals also serve to educate athletes and their parents about injury prevention, conditioning, the appropriate level of training, and healthy nutritional approaches to sports participation.

Timing Your Child’s Physical and Completing the Forms

If we have not seen your child for a well-child exam during the previous 12 months, we require that he or she come in for an exam before our physicians will complete the paperwork for physicals. This policy ensures the health and safety of our patients.

Duke provides a service to our patients and families by completing the forms associated with school, camp, and sports physicals. Please note, however, that we require at least seven business days’ notice to complete these forms.

For summer camp, be sure to contact us well before the school year is over and camp season has begun. For school, contact us at least one month in advance.

The timing of the sports physical is especially important. Sports physicals should be conducted at least six to eight weeks prior to start of practice.

It is easy to forget how quickly the year has passed, and to end up frantically trying to schedule a physical when your child’s sports tryouts are the next day.

This does not allow us sufficient time to further evaluate a newly discovered medical condition or the rehabilitation of an injury -- and waiting too long may make your child ineligible for trying out for a sport.

For more information about your child’s pre-activity physical, or to schedule an appointment, call your child's primary care practice.