The North Dakota High School Activities Association has modified its requirement for preparticipation physical exams, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Preparticipation physicals completed during the 2019-20 school year will be accepted for the 2020-21 school year, upon submission of the 2020-21 Annual Sports Health Questionnaire (Form B), signed by the parent and athlete.
Form B asks the athlete about their health in the past year, such as if they had chest pain or fainting, explained Dawn Mattern, MD, medical director of Trinity Health’s Sports Medicine department. She added that the need for a new sports physical would depend on those answers.
If a student did not receive a physical during the 2019-20 school year, or if they are entering the seventh grade, they would need to have an updated physical exam to participate in activities.
Sports physicals are important because they make sure the athlete is not at risk for problems by participating in sports, Mattern said. Those problems can include previous injuries that may have not recovered; family history that may put them at increased risk for cardiac disease; or any long history of concussions that didn’t get worked up or recovered from.
Trinity Health’s providers are highly qualified to serve the full spectrum of health needs of young people, including sports physicals.
“The sooner they get them done, the better,” Dr. Mattern advised.
To schedule an appointment with a pediatrician, call 701-857-5413; for Thomas Carver, DO, or Allison Lesmann, FNP-C, call 701-857-3133; or Dr. Mattern at 701-857-5500.