The medical evaluation is an essential part of any doctor's visit. It provides a comprehensive assessment of your overall medical history and current conditions. It consists of a series of questions regarding your medical history followed by an examination of the symptoms. Together, the medical history and the physical examination aids in determining the correct diagnosis and devising the treatment plan.

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A full physical examination is a general examination of the body performed by the doctor or general practitioner (GP). The examination will cover most of the basic systems of the body, including the heart system, lung system, gut system, and nerve system examination. An additional examination can be added depending on the clinical scenarios. The purposes of a full physical examination are to confirm any present issues after the clinical history and to find possible pathologies that are present but yet to be known about.

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Why do I need a medical evaluation?

 

When pursuing treatment for a certain medical condition, whatever physical or psychological, you have to first undergo a thorough medical evaluation. Sometimes biological health problems manifest as traumatic appearance of pain, psychological problems at work, family, finances, society, etc. 

Medical science calls for the proper evaluation of a medical problem before it can prescribe the right treatment.

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Clinical history and physical examination are an essential part of medicine since Western medicine was established centuries ago. However, with the advance of technological investigations, many diseases are diagnosed with blood tests and imaging studies. Many diseases are diagnosed earlier using modern technology where previously physical examination could find nothing, for example, prostate cancer, colon cancer, etc.

 

What is a comprehensive medical evaluation?

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Biolife Health Center comprehensive medical evaluation includes the following:

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• General physical exam

• Complete medical history 

• Blood and urine tests

• Vital signs

• Exams: Heart, lung, teeth and gums, ears, nose, sinuses, eyes, lymph nodes, thyroid, and carotid arteries

• Lifestyle behaviors: smoking, alcohol use, sexual health, diet, and exercise

• Drug interactions (prescription and non-prescription)

• Check for possible diseases so they can be treated early

• Identify any issues that may become medical concerns in the future

• Update necessary immunizations

• Ensure that you are maintaining a healthy diet and exercise routine

• Sleep studies

• DNA testing for health predispositions and genetics role in your health

• Live imaging (MRI, CT, PET)

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What happens during a physical examination?

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Before a physical examination is carried out, the doctor will ask for consent from the patient. If the patient is of a different gender from the doctor, a chaperone may be needed (especially when a male doctor examines a female patient). Usually, some parts of the body will need to be exposed, and permission is obtained as well.
The physical examination usually starts with the vital signs, and that includes the heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and temperature.

Generally, there are 4 parts of physical examination:

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• Inspection: looking for signs

• Palpation: feeling for signs

• Percussion: tapping for signs, used when doing a lung and/or gut examination

• Auscultation: listening using the stethoscope

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Not all of these may be present in the system's examination but most will do. Depending on the training of the doctor, the sequence of the systems covered may be different. However, all physical examinations strive to determine more about the present disease the patient has, or possible diseases that are yet to be diagnosed.

 

During the physical examination, the doctor strives to keep the patient as comfortable as possible. However, sometimes tender spots need to be touched and examined for an accurate or reliable diagnosis.

 

After the physical examination, the doctor will tell the patient the clinical findings. Coupled up with clinical history, the doctor will either proceed to investigations or manage the disease.

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