Sports and School Physicals

Two different exams get called "a physical," and every August a lot of families find out the hard way that they got the wrong one. The sports physical clears a student to play; the school entry exam is what a Florida school needs to enroll a child in the first place. They use different forms and different rules.

Medi-Station Urgent Care does both, on a walk-in basis, at our Miami Shores office. No appointment, and evening and weekend hours for when your pediatrician's office is closed. We have EKG, digital X-ray and lab work on site if the exam turns up something that needs a closer look.

New this year: Florida now requires an ECG for many student athletes

This is the change catching families off guard, and in Miami-Dade there are two rules stacked on top of each other. Start with the state. As of July 1, 2026, the Florida High School Athletic Association requires an electrocardiogram (ECG, also called an EKG) for:

• every incoming 9th grade student-athlete, and
• any student in 10th through 12th grade who has never before participated in FHSAA-sanctioned sports.

The ECG is documented on form EL1. You complete either Section A (the parent or guardian attesting to an ECG already done) or Section B (the clinician who interprets the ECG) — not both. Under the state rule, returning athletes are not required to have one, though the FHSAA encourages it.

Miami-Dade goes further. Under School Board Policy 2431, and since the 2025-26 school year, all M-DCPS student-athletes need one successful ECG screening before they are cleared to play — returning athletes included — with an opt-out available to parents. If your child plays for a Miami-Dade public school, that is the rule that applies to you. Check the specifics with your school's athletic department.

The district also runs free ECG screening events for student-athletes through its hospital partners. Ask your athletic director when the next one is. If the timing does not work, or you would rather not wait for it, we can do the EKG here.

Two things worth knowing before you schedule anything. An ECG done within the two years before July 1 of the school year in question already counts — for 2026-27 that means any ECG performed on or after July 1, 2024 — so if your child had one recently, dig out the record before paying for another. And if a physician determines the screening is not appropriate for a particular student, there is a medical exemption pathway on form ME1; the EL1 also lets a parent record a religious objection.

We perform EKGs on site, so the physical and the ECG can happen in the same visit rather than as two appointments in two places. Check with your school on who needs to sign Section B of the EL1 for the screening to be accepted.

The sports physical: FHSAA form EL2

Every athlete at an FHSAA member school — middle and high school alike — needs a current EL2 on file before practice starts. It is a four-page form, and the work is split: you fill out the first two pages at home — the medical history — and the examining provider completes the rest during the visit.

Bring those first two pages already filled in. The history section is where most of the useful information lives, and it is very hard to answer accurately from memory in a waiting room. Before you come, check with relatives about any family history of sudden cardiac death, fainting during exercise, or unexplained early heart problems.

An EL2 is valid for 365 calendar days from the date of the exam — roughly a school year plus early summer conditioning. Time it deliberately: an exam in early June covers the whole of the following school year, while one in late August expires just weeks into the next fall season.

One small detail that causes a surprising number of rejected forms: the provider's license number has to be on it. We complete that field as a matter of routine, but if you are having the exam done elsewhere, check the form before you hand it in.

The EL2 is only part of the packet. Your school will also want the FHSAA EL3 consent and release certificate and, in Miami-Dade, the district's own athletic forms (FM-3439 and FM-7155). Those are signed by you, not by us — download the current packet from your school or the district and bring the whole thing back together.

The school entry physical: form DH 3040

This one has nothing to do with sports. Florida requires a health examination for students in prekindergarten through 12th grade who are making their initial entry into a Florida school — a kindergartner starting out, or a child moving here from another state or another country.

The exam has to have been performed within one year before enrollment by a licensed health care provider. Florida's standard form is the DH 3040, though a comparable form from another state is acceptable if a licensed provider performed the exam inside that one-year window.

Separately, schools require an immunization certificate on form DH 680. That form can only be completed by a licensed Florida physician, an advanced practice registered nurse, or a county health department. In practice, if your child's shots were given in another state, most Florida schools want them recorded on a Florida DH 680, so plan on having the records transferred. Start that early; it is the step that most often delays enrollment.

Which one does my child need?

Plenty of students need both in the same year — a 9th grader arriving from out of state who wants to play soccer needs the DH 3040, the DH 680, the EL2 and the EL1 ECG. Bring everything you have and we will tell you at the visit which forms we can complete that day and which need a step elsewhere.

What to bring

• The form itself, with any parent or student sections already completed
• Your child's immunization records — the Florida DH 680 if you already have one
• A list of current medications, including inhalers, supplements and anything taken occasionally
• Glasses or contacts, if your child wears them
• Any prior ECG report, if your child has had one since July 2024
• Photo ID for the parent or guardian, and the insurance card if you are using insurance

Have your child wear something they can move in. A good portion of the exam is watching how joints move, and it goes faster in shorts and a T-shirt than in jeans.

One more thing worth a phone call: if you are paying out of pocket rather than using insurance, call us at 305-603-7650 and ask what a physical runs. It is a short answer and it saves a surprise at the front desk.

What happens during the visit

A preparticipation exam is focused. Our provider reviews the medical history you filled in, takes height, weight, blood pressure and pulse, checks vision, listens to the heart and lungs, examines the abdomen, and goes through a musculoskeletal screen — joints, flexibility, old injuries that never fully healed.

The heart history is the part we slow down on, and it is the reason the state added the ECG requirement. Fainting or chest pain during exercise, unusual shortness of breath, or a family history of sudden cardiac death before age 50 are the things worth mentioning even if they seem minor.

Most visits end with the exam complete and the form filled in the same day. Sometimes an exam turns up something that needs a second look before clearance — that is the point of the screening, and it is not the same as being disqualified. If that happens we explain what we found, what the follow-up involves, and coordinate with your pediatrician or a specialist.

A sports physical is not a check-up

Worth saying plainly, because a lot of families use one to replace the other. A preparticipation exam answers one question: is it safe for this student to play this season? It is not a well-child visit. It does not cover growth and development, vaccines that are due, or the longer conversation a pediatrician who has known your child for years is able to have — and while the EL2 history includes a brief mental-health screen, that is a screen, not a substitute for a real conversation.

If your child has a pediatrician, keep the annual visit. Use us for the form, the timing and the convenience — evenings, weekends, no appointment — not as a substitute for ongoing care.

Frequently asked questions