By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News

The beginning of the school year is fast approaching and parents are preparing their youngsters by buying school supplies, new clothes and taking them to have annual physicals.

Andy Ferrar, family practice nurse practitioner with OSF Saint James-John W. Albrecht Medical Center, explains that school physicals aren’t just for immunizations or meeting state mandates.

“Kids have a lot of interesting pains and growth pains, and they’re not always able to describe things to parents. So, big changes in mood, behavior, physical activity, different complaints of pain, abnormal movement, etc. and that’s why we like to see you at the doctor’s office, because we keep an eye on that. We get to know you and we can say ‘That’s different since last time I saw you,’ and ‘here’s my concern,’” said Ferrar.

The full forum with more information about getting students ready for school can be found in our podcast here.