For College/University Athletes: Were Your Pre-Season Physicals Done By A Team Doctor Or Your Personal Physician?

A question for college and university athletes. were your pre-season physical exams done by the school's team doctor or doctors? or were you allowed or required to have them done by your personal doctor or one of your own choosing? i'm curious to know about the processes of large universities and small colleges alike.

if the exams were done by the team doctor or doctors, were the exam times set up by specific sports? or just for males and females respectively?

how thorough was the discussion with the doctor or doctors about prior health conditions and history? do you feel that discussion affected the thoroughness of the exam?

were the results of the pre-season exam ever brought up to you by coaches or trainers?

While participating in college crew, our exams were required and conducted by the athletic department's contracted doctor. It meant going to his office and then get a complete exam with the coach in attendance.

For those who are curious, it meant stripping down to briefs or boxers and lining up single file. The the coach would send you one at a time into the next room where the doctor had you remove your underpants and take a hernia exam. This happened to everyone and also included a basic stethoscope exam while naked. One then returned to the other room naked and got dressed.

As I recall, there was a lot of nervous laughter but no pointed conversation about the exam or having to stand there naked while the doc manipulated one's testicles and did a hernia check. I can't recall anyone getting erect.

@Nick321 - You coach for crew was in the exam room and watched your full physical from beginning to end?

I bet the coach made sure his team got the whole exam completed and ensured the players didn't misbehave.

When I went to college in the late 70s just to try out for an athletic team or play intramural or group athletics you had to be seen by a doctor at university health as a freshman. I don't remember it all that well but because I wanted to try out for hockey they gave me an appointment my first week of class that fit into my schedule. I think it was with one of the nurse practitioners but she did a very quick exam mainly focusing on listening to my breathing and hernia check after looking at my medical forms and then signed the form and gave it to me. I did not make the team nor did I wind up playing any other sports or trying out again so I do not know if I would have had to have another exam the following year.

The coach observed the exam of every team member. I think to make sure we complied. At the time, I was way to nervous to care!

"Nick 321 "

I don't understand well the set up of your exam

you say first that you were sent by the coach to enter in the exam room and then instructed to remove your underwears so that I presume that all the examination was performed on boys in the nude ?

but after you say that they get out of the exam room stark naked and dressed again after, so does it mean that the boys were instructed to get out naked before undressing and had their underwears in their hands ? it was useless to win time, it would have not taken a long time to dress again in underwear, it was just to expose the boys in the nude to all the others boys in the waiting room

if the coach was present when you were lined up in single file wearing only your underwears, you do not say if he entered with each boy in the exam room to watch also his exam ?

They have always been done by a team of doctors with all the players naked in the locker room

I always have them done by my personal physician for the sports I play (cross country and swim & dive team). Our athletic department does have it's own clinic with team trainers and therapists with sports medicine training, they give us a sports assessment at the start of the season but they are looking for different things, and only involves running on a tread mill, checking pulse and blood pressure. But the actual physical exams and vaccinations required each year for clearance are done by my own doctor pre-season. He's always very thorough and does a great job making sure I stay fit!

My sports exams were always done by my own GP. Nothing too exciting to report as the exams were fairly basic and sometimes didn’t even include a genital/hernia exam. All of the paperwork was then sent to the school.

I went to my own doctor, who had a form to fill out and sign.

Same here, my doctor of choice, we had a release form for them to sign. Pretty simple, straight forward exams. We turned them in to the athletic department. They were a checkbox, as far as I know no one paid attention unless they were flagged. As long as the box was checked you were good to go.