What Should I Bring to My Child's School Physical?

While it might seem like summer has only just begun, the start of the next school year is around the corner, so it might be time to schedule your child’s school physical exam. 

New York State requires a school health exam for new entrants into a school system, any child playing interscholastic sports, and all kids entering kindergarten, and grades 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11.

If your child (or children) fall into one of these categories and needs a physical, you’re in good hands here at LaSante Health Center. Our team of diverse health care providers includes pediatric specialists who understand the ins and outs of school health exams.

To help you best prepare for your visit, we recommend that you bring the following.

Health records if you’re new

If you’re new to our practice, we ask that you bring all pertinent health records from your previous health care provider so we can create a comprehensive file. This includes a schedule of immunizations, as well as any other issues that your child needed medical attention for, such as diabetes or other chronic health conditions.

If you’ve been with us before, we have these records on file.

Medications

If your child is on any medications, have that information available. You don’t necessarily need to bring the medication, but it’s often easier that way, as all the information we need is on the bottle.

Dental and eye exam records

Your child’s dental and eye health are both areas that we check during the school physical, so we urge you to bring any pertinent information from other providers.

We do provide both dental and optometry services here, so if you’re using LaSante Health Center for dental and eye health, we have all the information we need.

We also urge you to bring any eyewear that your child uses, as well as any dental equipment, such as mouthguards and retainers.

Medical and family history records

If your child has had any medical issues since their last visit, and we didn’t treat them, it’s important to provide us with this information. For example, perhaps your child’s tonsils were removed or they broke an arm and had to have it set at the ER. This is all information that we’d like to have.

If it’s a first visit with us for a school physical or you have new information about family medical history, it’s also important that we have this information in your child’s file. Family history plays no small role in a person’s health, so we need to know if there’s anything that we should be looking out for.

A list of questions

While a school health exam may be mandatory, these are still your visits and we invite you to bring a list of questions. 

Perhaps you want to know whether your child is reaching certain milestones or you’re worried about a certain behavior or health issue (think frequent ear infections). This is your time, so jot down your questions and concerns, and we’ll go over them while you’re here.

If you have any questions about what to bring to your child’s school physical or you’d like to schedule one today, please contact our clinic in Brooklyn, New York. We serve the Flatbush and East Flatbush, Crown Heights, Park Slope, Little Haiti, Little Caribbean, and Prospect Lefferts Gardens communities.