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