This letter is in response to UNC Health offering free Sports Physicals published in the April 12, 2024 edition of The News Herald.
As a pediatric health care provider in Burke County, I appreciate the generosity of our local health care system (UNC Health Blue Ridge) in offering free pre-participation sports physicals.
However, I would like to encourage parents to schedule these sports physicals with their primary care provider (PCP). This is important because at your adolescent’s wellness visit, a comprehensive range of services is provided in addition to completing the sports participation clearance forms. Vaccines are updated, mental health (depression, self-harm behaviors) and substance use (nicotine, alcohol, marijuana) screenings are performed and emergency action plans for asthma and other allergic disorders (food, bee stings) are completed. Weight concerns are addressed, and this may include lab testing for high cholesterol, diabetes and fatty liver disease. At Mountain View Pediatrics, EKGs are also performed based on the student-athlete’s personal or family history risk factors.
I want to acknowledge that free sports physicals for middle and high school athletes are a convenient service for the community. However, it should not replace the comprehensive wellness visit provided by your child’s PCP.
Rudy Medina, MD, FAAP, Mountain View Pediatrics, PA
Remembering the military child
As you sit and drink your morning coffee, please be mindful that April is the month of the military child.
So many in Burke County were military children or served in the Armed Forces and have military children. These children face challenges many will never know, as they watch parents leave for deployment, change schools every few years and must make new friends in new environments around the world.
As President Biden said in his proclamation on March 29, 2024, “Military children embody the very best of America — shouldering the unique challenges military life places on families across our Nation and around the world with tenacity … This April, we celebrate children of our service members and veterans whose sacrifice and support allow their parents to serve our Nation and protect children everywhere.”
