Prevention Paves the Way for a Healthy Future

Seeing the doctor regularly, even when you aren’t feeling sick, is a great way to establish a relationship with a provider, while also staying up to date on all of your blood work and necessary screenings. These visits, called check-ups or wellness exams, are usually scheduled once a year and will cover the basics of how your health is overall. 
Even if you are feeling great and have no complaints about your health, it is still a good idea to choose a primary care provider and meet with them to maintain a medical home for yourself, get a snapshot of your wellness and set goals for staying healthy.
Choose a Primary Care Provider
A primary care provider (PCP) can act as your wellness mentor, providing a home base for all things medical in your life. A PCP is a medical provider who has training in family medicine, general medicine, internal medicine or pediatrics. They don’t necessarily specialize in a certain part of the body or ailment, but instead provide care to patients as a whole person. Once you select a PCP they can manage and monitor your healthcare from top to bottom, taking into account family history and preexisting conditions, not to mention your personality and preferences.
“A primary care provider helps you to become your healthiest self by helping you to manage your medications, making recommendations based on your test results, and by working with your other doctors,” said Dr. Sandra E. Brooks, Chief Medical Officer at CompleteCare Health Network. “A PCP serves as a great resource for questions or concerns about your health.”
What to Expect at Your Wellness Exam
Most wellness exams start with basics like taking your weight, blood pressure, pulse rate and temperature. Your provider will also listen to your heart and breathing and look in your mouth, nose and ears.
A lot of your visit will be a conversation about your health history and the current state of your health. It may also include discussions about all or some of the following:
• Medicines you currently take. (It is often a good idea to bring your meds or a medicine list with you at the time of your visit.)
• How you eat and how you could eat better.
• How active you are and whether you should be more active.
• Stress in your life or signs of depression.
• Drinking, smoking and drug use habits.
• Safety measures like wearing your seat belt and using sunscreen.
• Your sexual habits and any risks they pose.
Your PCP may ask you to get some additional testing done outside of his or her office and will communicate to you about the results. Preventive screening tests can help your provider determine if you are at risk for illness.
At all visits with your provider, it is a good idea to bring a notebook so you can write down any instructions they may have for you. If you have questions, write them down before your visit so that you don’t forget to ask them once you are in the office.
“We want patients to leave fully understanding what is going on, what it means and what they need to do about it,” said Dr. Brooks. “It is not unusual for people to forget instructions or forget to mention something that has been on their mind. By taking notes and asking questions, you can leave equipped with the right information to manage your health.”
CompleteCare offers primary care providers at locations in Cape May Court House and Wildwood. To schedule your wellness exam with a board-certified provider, call (609) 465-0258 or visit www.CompleteCareNJ.org.