I've had several employment physicals throughout my career. They've increased in the required level of detail as I've climbed higher up the ladder of management into the C-level. This is because most companies take out life insurance policies on their senior management staff, with the company as the beneficiary of the policy.
My most recent employment exam was about three years ago. I had a taken an executive level management job with a new company. I had to drive to Boston for the exam at a cushy clinic where they specialize in executive physicals. I was treated extremely well during the two days that it took to complete everything. @Deviant1 went with me and was by my side for the entire time.
Day one started off with us meeting the “concierge” who would basically be escorting us around to the various sites within the clinic, which was part of a major hospital. She laid out the schedule for the following two days and brought us coffee and a very light breakfast. Then she started me on the prep for the colonoscopy that would be part of day two.
She took us to the office of my “lead physician” for the next two days. The doc was an internist with interest in women's health. We sat and talked with the doc for about an hour, going over my health history pretty much since I was a child. We talked about my family medical history, reviewed my medication list and prior tests, procedures and surgeries. Then the doc had the concierge take us into her personal exam room, which had an entrance from the doc's office. We were greeted by the doctor's nurse and the concierge left us. I had my blood drawn and then was sent behind a curtain to undress. I was given a robe to wear, opening in the front, along with a pair of slippers. The nurse directed me to a restroom which was attached to the exam room and gave me instructions on how to do a clean catch urine sample.
When I came back out from the restroom, the nurse did all of my vitals, including a waist measurement. Then she went to get the doc. The doc came in and did a VERY thorough physical exam, starting with the hair on my head and ending with checking my feet. Everything in between was examined, including my spine and all of my joints, HEENT, thyroid, heart, lungs, breasts, abdomen, pelvic with PAP and HPV and a bimanual exam. My robe was open for most of the exam, other than the pelvic and joint exams. She even checked me for femoral and inguinal hernias, while I stood up. That was a first for me and it would have been sexy under other circumstances. In fact, it has been sexy under other circumstances, but that is definitely a different story. 😉
When she was finished, the doc said that everything looked good so far, but we'd discuss my results at the end of the day tomorrow. She had the concierge come in and lead us to another exam room, where we stayed for a large part of the morning.
Next up was a full body skin exam with a dermatoscope by a male dermatologist. Let's just say that he checked everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. He left and the concierge escorted a male cardiologist into the room. He did a full cardiac exam on me, with my robe open the entire time, including checking my pulses pretty much everywhere a pulse could be found. Before he left, he reminded me that an ECG, echocardiogram and stress test were to come.
The next visitor was an ultrasound tech. She did ultrasounds of my thyroid, neck vessels, abdomen, legs, breasts and a transvaginal.
I got re-dressed after that and Dev and I were treated to lunch, although my lunch was very bland and light, due to the colonoscopy prep. The prep started kicking in after lunch and I spent more time than I care to remember in the restroom, which was private and quite nice, with an iPad for my use and bottled water in a plastic container with ice. They really did think of pretty much everything.
In between restroom visits, I had a chest xray, abdominal CT and xrays of my major joints and a mammogram. At least it saved me from having to have a mammo back home for that year. Dev was allowed to be in the rooms all of it, but he had to wear a lead vest and stay behind the screen where the tech was. I'm pretty sure he enjoyed watching the mammo, but you'd have to ask him. 😉
That was it for day 1. We headed to our hotel, which was thankfully only a very short ride from the exam center. I continued my colonoscopy prep and dealt with the results throughout the night. Dev enjoyed some pretty good looking room service, while I had broth, lemon Jello and Sprite. I got the short end of that stick, to be sure! Bedtime was very early, because I was pretty wiped out, but I was up and down all night running to the bathroom. Those of you who have had colonoscopies will understand.
Day 2 started off with a quick visit with the lead physician, just to more or less check in with her. The concierge took us to a cardiology lab, where I changed back into my robe and slippers, but was allowed to keep my panties on and was given a pair of shorts. Next up was the ECG, echo and stress test. A lot of people saw my boobs during all of that, I'll tell ya, but they were all women other than Dev. I wasn't thrilled by the stress test on the treadmill, because the girls move around a lot when unsupported and it wasn't comfortable. It must have been quite a sight, though!
Then we were taken by the concierge to the gastro suite. I met my gastroenterologist, a female who must have been about 80. She had me take the shorts and my panties off, and stayed in the room while I did so. She did a thorough exam of my alimentary canal from my mouth to my anus, including an abdominal ultrasound that she did herself. Then came the dreaded colonoscopy, done by the same doc, which I had sort of been avoiding back home. We were taken to the colonoscopy room and I was put on the table and an IV was started. They gave me happy drugs. which pretty much knocked me out. I drifted off to sleep on my side, with Dev holding my hand. When I woke up, I was on my back. They'd shifted my position, because the female colon takes more twists and turns than the male colon, mostly because of the internal female organs and smaller size of the female abdominal cavity.
After a little time in the recovery room, during which the concierge brought me light food and my beloved Diet Coke, I was allowed to get dressed.
The concierge took us back to the office of my lead doc. We went over all of my results. My cholesterol was a little high, so she sent a note to my then GP to consider changing my meds. I had arthritis in my knees, which I already knew. Proudly, my colon prep was declared to be very good. It better have been, after the torture that I endured by not eating anything real while watching Dev eat. But to his credit, he tried to not eat in front of me, I just wouldn't let him because it seemed silly.
And that was pretty much that. We were escorted to the parking garage and started the 3 hour drive back home. I won't tell you how much the entire two days cost my company. You wouldn't believe it if I did. Let's just say it was bigger than the GPD of some small countries and leave it at that.