School physicals offered by appointment

  • Published
  • Submitted by 341st Medical Group
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  Along with beautiful summer weather comes the need for middle school and high school sports physicals. In the past, clinics conducted mass sport physical screenings and focused these exams on a few specific dates. Unfortunately, these mass physicals tend to be less thorough, less personalized, and subtle findings, such as heart problems, can potentially be missed. As in recent years, in order to provide the Malmstrom student athletes with more individualized care, the 341st Medical Group Pediatric Clinic is offering sports physical appointments on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons starting on June 19.

Since each school or camp has different requirements, it is the parent's responsibility to provide the correct forms at the time of the appointment. Parents should bring all forms that need to be signed having completed as much of the forms as possible prior to the appointment. The required forms for Montana sports physicals can be obtained at the following web site: http://www.mhsa.org/.

Participants will also need to stop by the Malmstrom Immunization Clinic, which is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1 to 4 p.m., to receive any required vaccinations and obtain a current copy of children's immunization records.

Frequently, many people wait until a few days before their physical paperwork has to be turned in to schedule their appointments. This delay causes significant stress for all involved. The key to avoiding a mad rush is to schedule physicals early. Remember that physicals may be scheduled up to 28 days in advance and are good for a year.

The importance of keeping a scheduled appointment cannot be overemphasized. If someone books an appointment and doesn't show up or call to cancel it, then it is a lost appointment that could have been used by someone else. When calling to reschedule, the member will be given the next available appointment, which may be another 28 days away. People who cannot wait until their scheduled time can visit urgent care clinics that will perform physicals.

Please note that TRICARE covers annual wellness physical exams required for school enrollment for beneficiaries between the ages of 5 to 11. This benefit does not include physicals that may be required to participate in sports or other activities. Sport physicals done off-base are an out-of-pocket expense and are not reimbursed by TRICARE.

The Pediatric Clinic will also continue to accommodate physicals for children ages 2 and under in order to keep current developmental exams on record and immunizations up to date. As a reminder, children entering kindergarten need to have all required immunizations prior to the first day of school.

Airmen may schedule an appointment by visiting www.tricareonline.com or by calling 731-4MED (4633). Members should inform the appointment clerk when scheduling a child's sports physical appointment.