Athens, Ga. (June 4, 2019) – Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center recently hosted a day of free sports physical exams offered to local high school athletes from Athens-Clarke, Oconee and other surrounding counties.
The event, which took place at the Oconee Health Campus located on Jennings Mill Road in Watkinsville, Ga., invited high school athletes from schools such as North Oconee High School, Cedar Shoals High School, Madison County High School and Winder-Barrow High School to come complete their required pre-participation sports physical exams for the upcoming school year.
“In order to compete in high school athletics, these students are required to complete a pre-participation sports physical exam,” said Katie Terrell, an athletic trainer at Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center who helped to coordinate the event. “This event, which was the first of its kind of our team, worked out really great! Students who attended were able to receive a screening of height, weight, heart rate, blood pressure and eyes. They then also received an orthopedic screening and spent some time with one of our physicians.”
This pre-participation process is a requirement of the Georgia High School Athletic Association (GHSA) and aims to help identify student athletes who may be at higher risk for injuries or other health conditions prior to competing.
According to Terrell, the Piedmont Athens Regional team understood that hundreds of student athletes in the area required this exam and they wanted to lend a hand to their community. Providers from across Piedmont Athens Regional, including those with the hospital’s rehabilitation services, the hospital’s medical residency group, and the team from Piedmont Physicians Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, volunteered their time to complete these students’ exams.
“These students work so hard throughout the school year. We really wanted to pitch in and help these kids succeed,” Terrell said.
During the event, more than 540 student athletes from different high schools were able to complete their pre-participation exams.
“It was an amazing collaborative effort,” said Terrell. “We had a combination of doctors, physicians’ assistants, nurses and medical assistants, physical therapists, and countless other staff, who all gave their time to serve our communities and local high school students. We look forward to hosting more of these free events in the future.”
Parents of student athletes also now have the option of scheduling their child’s sports physical online.
Book your next appointment online using piedmont.org, the Piedmont Now app, or Piedmont MyChart.