A question to "Tim Larson" : how were managed your college sports physicals when you were in the soccer team,
how were you undressed ? how much persons were present and how long did it lasted ?
was it the same physical each year or more thorough the first year as a freshman in the team,?
-an other comment or question to " Hiker 1" : your relation is interesting because when you were a young man you had a physical without much privacy before obtaining a summer job.It seems that you were a little surprised by this physical which was performed in a way that was not expected.
But I don't think that it was uncommon to have such physicals for a summer job. at least it happened also in France in the past.
For instance in the railways in the 60's, it was a little like for you, most of the summer jobs were given to children of workers employed in the railways.
The candidates were for most of them young men aged between 16 or 17 and 20 or 21.and at that time, the young girlsof the same age were not allowed by their families to candidate for summer jobs
Before being really hired for the summer job, all candidates might report in the nurse'office of the railway station for a physical examination devoted to check that they were able to do the job and had no health issues.
Instead of being summoned to report at different hours, the youngest candidates who wanted to work for the first time like me were all summoned at the same hour in the morning, Many came with their dads who were employed by the railways society but I was alone, my father did not liked the nurse. I knew from my dad that the permanent nurse was n a middle aged woman who was rather authoritarian. My father had each year an issue with her for his urine test because he could not urine easily when required to do it.
It was her who received us at our arrival in the waiting room, we were about 8 boys of 16 or 17 age but she was assisted by a younger nurse about 25 aged which was for me unexpected since my father had not warned me about her presence. He told me after that she was not here for his routine examination as a permanent worker .
The older nurse told the dads to sit on benches along the wall of the room (She was not surprised by their presence and I learned after by an other guy that it was mentioned in the letter adressed by the medical office that the dads could attend to the physical examination of their sons if they wanted but my parents had not shown me the letter ), and she told to us (or rather as regards her voice she instructed us) to undress until briefs removing all other clothes including socks and also watches and to leave our clothes on the benches near the dads. It was a little embarrassing in front of the other boys and more over of the dads present ( about five in my memory)
After that, she told us to line up in the center of the room back to the benches where the fathers were sitting for a roll call which was also embarassing since we felt the sight of the dads behind us watching our rears. She explained that before the coming of the doctor she would perform the first checks and we would be examined one by one when called by her assistant.
A scale was in the waiting room on the right side as well as a chart for an eyes test reading letters at the left one.
We were weighted one by one on the scale by the nurse who talked to us with a stern voice and did not smile at all, it was obvious that we might do everything she instucted us to do and quickly because she was not patient. When we were on the scale, we might stand like at attention with arms on our sides, knowing that everybody in the room was watching us. The younger nurse took other measurements (chest, waist, hips) then we came again to the center of the room, we lined up again, and then she called us one by one for the eye's test always exposed to the view of everybody. After that, it was the urine test, we were told to go one by one to a small restroom with a wall urinal whom the door stayed opened with the nurse coming several times to make each of us hurry up and see if we succedeed in peeing. Fortunately, I arrived to pee even if I had no real privacy on the reverse of my father when he was in the same situation as I understood.
The doctor arrived during the urine test, She was also a middle aged woman. At the end of the urine test, she invited the dads to enter in the examination room and the second part of the examination was beguinning in the same way, without privacy, by group of four boys together but in front of their dads present and with the door opened so that the other boys and dads could hear what was said. Once in the room, she called us in front of her one by one, looked at our skins face and back, checked our pulse and our blood pressure and performed several other checks by listening to our hearts and so on, .The youngest nurse took notes each time the doctor told her to do it. It was a few time after that the older nurse suddenly instructed us to line up and to pull down our briefs until middle of the thighs, I was a little reluctant as all the other boys but it was impossible to refuse, so we did it, and the female doctor sitting on a stool performed the hernia test, the famous "cough and turn the head " and then it was an inspection of our genitals and a palpation of our balls while we were visible by the dads by side or by back. After that the doctor told us to turn around and she checked the curvature of our spine while we were exposing our naked buttocks to the three women medics. We were told to bend over to touch our toes. I was shocked but complied as the other boys. We could hear one dad telling to an other that it was like at the draft physical when we would have to stand naked in front of the draft board commission during our 18 aged year and they laughed. That was true indeed and we will soon discover it. But as everybody in this examination room had heard that "joke", even the three women medics, it was increasing our embarassment even if no boy dared to complain. Eventually the older nurse instructed us to pull up our briefs at our great relief. We were still told to walk a few steps face and back to the doctor and it was finished. I must add that I was red face during a part of the examination like some of the other boys.
I have been very long to relate tmy own physical for a summer job to show you that yours was not very special and that the examination in group was prety common in the past.