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Showing posts from September, 2015

The Sport Physical: Insanity and Magic

A father stands anxiously at the window to our reception desk, shifting his weight from side to side, clutching at a piece of paper.  “ My son can’t play football unless this form is signed, and practice starts this afternoon.  Can’t you help me?”   “Unfortunately,” explains my receptionist, “We are booking out 6 to 8 weeks for a well check up.  Our same day appointments are set aside for patients with serious, acute illnesses, and besides, sport physicals are not covered by insurances.”   “What am I supposed to do?”  asks the distraught parent.  The receptionist gives him a sympathetic look and hurries to answer the persistently ringing phone.  Some desperate families actually go to the emergency room to get their sport physical forms filled out.  Thus the insanity of the sport physical season plays out. Typically, the required paperwork is handed out to families in late July, and the school system expects physician offices to to see all student athletes in a two week time p