Helen Dandurand (Host): Welcome back to The Well Within Reach podcast. I'm your host, Helen Dandurand, and today I'm going to be joined by Isabel Montoya, Riverside Immediate Care Nurse Practitioner to talk a little bit about school and sport physicals.

MyChart ad: Healthcare can be confusing, but thanks to your My Riverside MyChart, you can easily manage not only your care, but your family's as well. With a single click, your My Riverside MyChart lets you stay well connected to the same information your provider sees. You can view your health history, get test results, request prescription refills, pay your bill or make an appointment.

Manage your care from anywhere, your laptop, phone, or tablet. Learn more and enroll today at riversidemychart.org.

Host: And we are back with Isabel. Thank you so much for joining me today.

Isabel Montoya, NP-C: Nice to be here.

Host: Good, good. So this is your first time on the podcast. Could we start by having you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?

Isabel Montoya, NP-C: Sure. So I've been with Riverside for the last three years. I'm currently working in the immediate care and workforce health site at the Bradley office, and I'm very happy to be here with Riverside.

Host: Great. Great. Okay, so onto the topic at hand, school and sport physicals. What is the difference between a school physical and a sport physical, and can one appointment cover both of those things?

Isabel Montoya, NP-C: Well, actually it's possible, but I want you to know that each physical is a little bit different and serves a different purpose.

For example, the school physical monitors the student's overall wellbeing and ensures compliance with the school health requirements. And the focus of that exam reviews the developmental, emotional, and social wellbeing of the child, and may identify any health issues that might affect their learning or attendance in school.

Whereas a sports physical, we make sure we evaluate for any potential risk factors for injury by determining whether or not the child is healthy enough to participate in that chosen sport. And that exam would include like a personal and family history particularly of the heart. And we also look for any musculoskeletal issues or previous injuries that may prohibit them from safely participating in their activities.

Host: Okay. Yeah. You touched on this a tiny bit, but why are these physicals important for students, especially those participating in sports?

Isabel Montoya, NP-C: Well, sports physicals, they start out first with the 32 question form. That helps us to identify any risk factors. They're reviewed with the patient and the parent as well during the exam. And while we're evaluating the child's general physical and psychological health, the questionnaire helps us to look at risk factors that may develop such as certain cardiac conditions. Sometimes they can cause a problem when the child is participating in sports.

Other things we do, we look for previous musculoskeletal injuries. For example, maybe a history of fractures, a shoulder or ankle sprain that may put them at risk for further injury. Just being aware of any history of asthma, diabetes, maybe seizures or previous concussion, sometimes that can affect the readiness to participate in sports activities.

Host: Okay. And are there different things, that make the school physicals important? Like what you had touched on?

Isabel Montoya, NP-C: The school physicals will evaluate, for example, has the child gotten all their vaccinations? Do they have, for example, if they have asthma, do they have like a, plan to resolve the asthma attack at school?

It's really important that schools know about the child's illnesses or you know, anything that needs to be treated with medication.

Host: Okay. So what can parents and students expect during one of these physicals at Riverside? I know you mentioned like a questionnaire and assessment, but are there any other things you didn't touch on that you might want them to know?

Isabel Montoya, NP-C: Well, the exams focus on a head to toe exam. We measure the height, the weight, the blood pressure. We listen to the heart and lungs. Assess the flexibility, strength, and reflexes. We also very important to review the medical history, any mental health conditions, any allergies, medications, or supplements the child is taking.

It's important for the school to know about those. Any modifications you have to make in the school setting. We discuss that with the parent and child, document that in the school form, so that the school knows and they're aware of anything that needs to be monitored.

Host: Okay. How early should families start to plan to get these physicals either before the school year or before a sports season starts?

Isabel Montoya, NP-C: Ideally, as soon as the school notifies the parent is the best. Coming in, at least six weeks prior to the start of the school. That's probably best in case they need to be evaluated by a specialist or their doctor.

Host: Got it. And are there any like specific documents or forms that parents should be bringing with them to these appointments?

Isabel Montoya, NP-C: We can print out the school and the sports forms if the parents don't have them. They also need to bring like medications, the names, the doses, any asthma action plan that they have, vaccination forms.

Host: That sounds great. We're going to take a quick break to talk about primary care at Riverside.

Consistency is being able to count on someone to be there when you need them. At Riverside Healthcare, your primary care provider is dedicated to being in your corner, helping you and your family stay healthy and thrive. Find the right primary care provider for you at myrhc.net/acceptingnew. From annual screenings to well checks and everything in between, having a primary care provider that you can trust makes all the difference. And we are back. So are walk-ins welcome at like our Riverside Immediate Care locations for school and sport physicals? Or is there an appointment required?

Isabel Montoya, NP-C: Well, walk-ins are always welcome. But we strongly urge people to make an appointment. They can either call in or they can go on MyChart to set up that appointment. This way they don't have to wait very long.

Host: Yeah, that's nice when you can reserve your spot there. And that is something that you can also get done with your primary care provider as well, correct?

Isabel Montoya, NP-C: This is correct, yes.

Host: Got it. So what are some common health issues or concerns that you might've seen come up in these exams?

Isabel Montoya, NP-C: Well, one of the most common health issues is asthma, either exercise induced or triggered by allergies. It's important to have a treatment plan in place, including having any medications on board, you know, like an inhaler, for example.

Have it available at the school, available with them at the sport. Another common condition is diabetes that may require medications. Again, it's important for the school nurse to know about all that. And other things we might see is like an elevated blood pressure or maybe vision problems where maybe the child needs some, starts to get on glasses.

When those are discovered, we can refer the child to their provider or further testing and evaluation with a specialist.

Host: You kind of addressed a couple of different things, asthma, things like that. Are heart issues kind of common to come up and, you know, what kind of things do you do to test out the heart and make sure all that's working properly?

Isabel Montoya, NP-C: For the heart, usually you'll see that maybe in a child who has a birth defect from birth. Also lung conditions can affect the heart as well. Those are things that we're always looking for in an exam that really would anything to do cardiac wise, we would reach out to a cardiologist and have further testing done there.

Host: Sure. Well, it sounds like a good foot in the door to make sure all is well and, make sure that you're taking care, nipping those problems in the bud. Yeah. So how does Riverside Immediate Care communicate the results of the physical, to the patients and ensure follow up if any concerns are found?

Isabel Montoya, NP-C: Well, if their doctor is within the Riverside network, we can have those charts sent out electronically. Otherwise, we'll often call the doctor's office and let them know of any abnormalities and letting them know they need to be seen as soon as possible and have that addressed.

Host: And so it sounds like that's all pretty seamless. You'll get your results, you'll know what's going on. What would you say to parents who think that these physicals are just a formality? Why would you tell them that these really matter?

Isabel Montoya, NP-C: Well, physicals are really important because children grow quickly and they change a lot year after year throughout their childhood and adolescence.

So we need to keep track of those things and make sure they're developing like they should. That way any problems discovered during the exam, we can address it right away and treat it early.

Host: Perfect. Is there anything else that we didn't address today that you want to say today?

Isabel Montoya, NP-C: Well, I just want you to know that all our healthcare providers, we treat each person individually and we're really there for you to make sure that we're a valuable part of your healthcare team, and we want everyone to be healthy and do well in school and in their sport as well.

Host: Great. Thank you so much for being here today. And thank you listeners for tuning into the Well Within Reach podcast brought to you by Riverside Healthcare. For more information, visit riversidehealthcare.org.