July 10, 2017 - TCO
What’s in a free high school sports physical from TCO?
You may have heard: Twin Cities Orthopedics provides Free High School Sports Physicals. We do, and there’s no catch! We offer these to our community free of charge because we know the costs related to playing high school sports can quickly add up.
The exams follow the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) or Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) sports-qualifying forms and are open to middle school, high school or college student-athletes ages 13-18 with clear medical histories and who are required to have a physical before participating in athletics. Be sure to complete the appropriate form ahead of time and bring it with you the day of the physical.
Physicals are used to screen for and detect physical or medical conditions that might put student-athletes at risk for future problems. Student-athletes currently under primary care provider (PCP) care for current or previously diagnosed medical conditions/injuries/illnesses are advised to receive medical exams from their PCPs.
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Getting started
Sign up to select a time and location for your exam.
Day of the physical
Before the exam, check in at the front desk at the time and place for which you signed up and a TCO team member will make sure the proper physical paperwork has been completed and signed.
What’s in an exam
The exam itself should take about 20 minutes, give or take. There will be a series of stations, where a certified athletic trainer will record your vitals such as height, weight, pulse and blood pressure. You’ll also have a vision screen.
After that you’ll see an orthopedic provider who will conduct a musculoskeletal screen.
Following the orthopedic exam, you’ll be examined by a primary care provider who reviews your health history and conducts the heart, lung and neurological portion of the physical.
Once all of the stages are completed, you’ll stop at the checkout desk, where your physical form is reviewed a final time to make sure it’s complete before you leave.
When you’re finished, it’s the responsibility of the individual athlete, parent or guardian to return the completed form to the school. We’ll keep a copy of all forms on file in case you misplace yours; however, TCO isn’t responsible for submitting completed forms to schools.