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Medical Author:

M Ruby Alvi, MD, CCFP, MHSc

Medical Editor:

Marian Gambrell, MD

Medical Editor:

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD

Medical Editor:

Jerry R. Balentine, DO, FACEP

Jerry R. Balentine, DO, FACEP

Dr. Balentine received his undergraduate degree from McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. He attended medical school at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine graduating in1983. He completed his internship at St. Joseph's Hospital in Philadelphia and his Emergency Medicine residency at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in the Bronx, where he served as chief resident.

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A Typical Checkup

What can you expect at your checkup?

• Clinical history: Updating information on your chart or medical record is important. Some of the items you will likely be asked about include the following:
  
  
  • Dates and results of previous preventive procedures (such as prior immunizations, Pap tests, mammograms, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure readings)
  
  
  
  • A complete and updated family history of diseases
  
  
  
  • Your past medical history including a review of all medications you take
  
  
  
  • Information about your workplace and leisure and living conditions at home
  
  
  
  • Your habits such as recreational drug use, alcohol use, smoking, exercise, sexual practices, and seat belt use
  
  
  
  • Information about your normal body functions such as eating, sleeping, urination, bowel function, vision, and hearing


• Physical examination and diagnostic tests
  
  
  • The number of physical examination maneuvers your doctor performs and tests that are ordered will vary depending on your gender, age, and information obtained from the clinical history.
  
  
  
  • The physical exam is most useful in identifying disease in people who already have symptoms, but it is often of little use as a screening test in people who have no complaints.
  
  
  
  • The US Preventive Services Task Force has developed age-specific charts for periodic health screening for the general population, with special interventions for high-risk populations. See more detailed information in the next section.


• Procedures no longer done routinely: Unless there is a specific reason for these tests to be done, the US Preventive Services Task Force does not advocate routine testing of the following:
  
  
  • Hemoglobin
  
  
  
  • Blood chemistries
  
  
  
  • Urinalysis
  
  
  
  • Vision and hearing testing up to age 75 years
  
  
  
  • ECG - Heart tracing
  
  
  
  • Screening for ovarian cancer
  
  
  
  • Screening for prostate cancer