Is Your School Saving the Preparticipation
Physical Exams?

Preparticipation Physical Exams: The Basics

A school or team should require a preparticipation physical exam prior to allowing a child to practice or play an organized sport. In most places, not just any form will do. Most sport sponsors will specify the form that can be used for the preparticipation physical exam.

After the sports season is over, a school needs to save the preparticipation physical exam until the child is an adult because children have the right to bring lawsuits as adults for injuries they suffered as children. A school will fare better in court if they can produce their preparticipation physical exams.

Remember - You Must Use The School's Form

Most sport sponsors have lawyers who require a specific preparticipation physical exam form. In my position as an athletic commissioner, I occasionally encounter parents who have trouble with the requirement that one specific form be used. These parents usually want me to know that they have used other forms to certify that their child is healthy. I always have to let these parents down - but I try to do it gently.

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It is important for parents to note that sports sponsors may require parents to use their specific preparticipation physical exam form as a precondition for participation. Indeed, it probably is important for sports sponsors to specify a form. After all, no sport sponsor can run the risk of one child being certified under one standard and another child being certified under another standard.

There is, though, a small problem in something as important as a sports physical being decided on a school by school, and case by case basis. One would hope that an industry standard could be set and universally used. We may be getting there - slowly but surely.

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The Five Society Monograph - Toward A Common Form?

There is one form which is sufficiently prevalent to be called the "model form." That form is a form produced by a consortium that has come to be referred to as "The Five Society Monograph." This unwieldy descriptive sounds like a reference to a mysterious conspiracy; in truth, it just is a high falutin way of saying that five medical groups came together to develop a model. Those groups are the American Academy of Family Physicans, The American Academy of Pediatrics, The American Medical Society For Sports Medicine, The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, and the American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine. If you go on the internet and search "preparticipation physical examination" you'll find a number of versions of the five society monograph form.

But wait! Don't rush out and pull a random version of the five society monograph form off the internet. Some sports sponsors modify the form in stylistic and substantive ways. Check with your school first to make sure you use the form they require.

How Long Is The Form Good For?

In most places that I am familiar with, a preparticipation physical examination form is good for 365 days. However, there are some places that use longer time frames. For instance, in Connecticut, a physical is good for 13 months. Check with your school so you'll know when to take the next physical exam. Nobody wants to be the kid who gets pulled off the team in the middle of the season because their physical expired.

Finally, Is Your School Saving The Form

Sports sponsors need to save the preparticipation physical examination forms for a long time. I suggest saving the forms until the youngest child on a team is an adult. Then, hold the forms for four or five more years - just to play it safe.

Children don't generally have an independent right to sue. Their parents get to make those choices for them. However, once the child becomes an adult he can void his parents' decision not to sue, and bring lawsuits for things that happened a long time ago. The new adult receives a period of time to bring his/her suit. After that period of time, the kid can't sue. That time period is the statute of limitations. It's usually one to three years. A sports sponsor should check with its attorney to find out when children become adults for purposes of bringing a lawsuit in its state and to find out how long the stature of limitations period is. The forms should be saved for that length of time - and probably a year or two extra just to play it safe.

No Excuses

Sports sponsors and parents will occasionally make excuses about doing preparticipation physical examinations the right way. I've seen schools lose forms because they had a change in athletic directors. I've seen athletic directors who gave the originals to a coach to take to the game, and the coach lost them - hint: give the coach the copies and file the originals. I've had parents argue that they only get so many medical checkups per year with their insurance so they can't do a preparticipation physical examination. At the end of the day, no excuses are acceptable here. Our kids' health and our schools' money are on the line.

ABOUT DONALD C. COLLINS

DON COLLINS IS THE MOMSTEAM SPORTSMANSHIP EXPERT. AN ATTORNEY AND CURRENTLY THE COMMISSIONER OF ATHLETICS IN SAN FRANCISCO.

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