Annual Exams Jacksonville
Annual exams serve as a preventive from of health care to alert your primary care physician of any abnormalities or changes to your overall health. Although you receive a brief physical exam as part of any doctor's visit to Family Care Partners, a thorough examination can catch health problems before they become more serious. Your physicians will spend time listening to your concerns, checking all of your vital signs, updating your medical history, and ordering any additional lab work or screenings as deemed appropriate. When medical issues are detected early, optimal treatment options are usually available. Annual exams also provide you with the perfect opportunity to discuss health and lifestyle issues as well as other medical concerns with your primary care physician.*
Your annual exam begins when the doctor walks in the room. Your general appearance says a lot about how you feel. By watching and talking to you, your physician is gathering important bits and pieces of information to make an overall assessment of your medical condition. A quick review of your chart will tell your doctor whether you are in need of vaccinations, lab work or other tests relative to your personal and family medical history. Using a stethoscope, the doctor will listen to your heartbeat and breath sounds for presence of heart or lung disease. A quick check of your ears, nose, lymph nodes and throat will provide additional information as to your overall health. Your doctor may also use a stethoscope as part of your abdominal exam and may ask you to stand or move around to inspect your balance and muscle strength. Any abnormalities, sensory issues or physical changes may indicate a problem somewhere else in your body, so additional testing, screenings or lab work may be ordered.
Our doctors still value the importance of routine physicals for patients of all ages. During annual exams, patients meet with a board-certified physician who will provide a thorough examination and review of the patient's medical history. Coupled with the appropriate diagnostics and lab work, he or she will evaluate your health from head to toe. The doctor will present the results, so you can ask questions and discuss any concerns you may have. For your convenience, you can use your patient portal to request an appointment for annual exams, sports physicals, back-to-school physicals, post-operative examinations and job-related physicals.
Annual Physical Exam for Men
In addition to the basics, a male physical exam may also include a hernia exam (the famous turn your head and cough) and a prostate exam to determine the size and feel of the prostate gland. Your doctor will check genitalia for lumps or changes as well as signs of sexually transmitted diseases. Based on your past medical history, age, risk factors, chronic medical conditions, list of medications and substance use, the examining physician may order other tests such as an EKG or Diabetes Screening.
Annual Physical Exam for Women
Women have unique health care needs that are addressed by the examining physician during all annual exams. Based upon your medical history and current health conditions, you may be advised to have a thorough checkup more often than once a year. Our annual physical exam for women includes updating the patient's medical history, a breast exam and a pelvic examination. Depending upon your age, a mammogram or bone density scan may be ordered as well as a Pap smear and possibly a test for the human Papilloma virus (HPV). Annual exams are part of our preventive care for the early detection of medical conditions that can impact your quality of life.
*NOTE: Some health insurance carriers no longer cover the costs of annual exams. Per the Affordable Healthcare Act, these have been replaced with an in-home wellness visit that is not hands-on with a physician.
