Athletes at Ben’s Ford Christian School took their physicals on Friday, May 13 in the school’s gym.

The physicals are free, as part of a community outreach program by the LSU Rural Family Medicine Residency program, which is affiliated with Our Lady of the Angels Hospital.

They physicals are set up with several stations. The first station is vital signs where the students get blood pressure, pulse, height and weight checked. At the next station, medical staff check brainpower and balance when they test the athletes’ baseline neurocognitive status.

“We’re seeing how their neurocognitive status is now, versus on the field,” Dr. Jay Umarvadia said. “We can sort of get a baseline now. If they have an injury on the field or a concussion or a traumatic brain injury on the field, we can see what their baseline was when they were normal and then compared to their injury status is.”

The third station is an efficient range-of-motion exam where medical staff check joints and the athletes’ range-of-motion is from head to toe.

The fourth one is a physical exam called a ticker check. During that test, the heart, lungs, abdomen, eyes and ears are tested and doctors make sure they’re not missing anything from head-to-toe.

The final station is a checkoff to make sure the physical form is complete and there were no red flags.

This is the third year the group has done this.

Ben’s Ford Christian School athletic director Mark McGehee said he appreciates the group for donating their time, efforts and expertise and for doing these physicals.

“It is a convenience,” McGehee said. “It helps with the parents not having to schedule time to take their kids to get physicals. We’re just real appreciative of Our Lady of the Angels and other health-care providers and the effort they put in with our student-athletes.”