Just go to the doctor and get that taken care of!

I’m under 50 years old and healthy, do I need to see my doctor every year? 

Surprisingly the answer to this question for both men and women is no, however when poled both physicians and patients overwhelmingly believe that the answer is yes. The premise is that at annual exams of asymptomatic healthy people tests are ordered every year that may need to be ordered less frequently driving up overall healthcare delivery costs. These tests such as blood count, kidney and liver function tests, and cholesterol levels are often checked yearly and the truth is that they probably need to be checked every 3-5 years in a person who is asymptomatic and has normal baseline labs done at some point in the past 5 years. 

Recently, I was speaking casually to a group of 40-45 year old men and women who were praising their doctors’ thorough annual exams where he or she reviewed extensive labs, including annual EKGs and chest X-rays, conducted a thorough exam and conveyed a very deep understanding of the patients overall health. There is no evidence to suggest that these labs and tests do anything in the long term to improve patients overall health. I suspect that it is the conveyance of a deep understanding and connection to our patients that makes the annual physical exam seem so important to all involved.

Should you stop going to your doctor every year? Despite the evidence that suggests that annual exams do not improve patient health, I believe that they are important as the majority of people are not asymptomatic by the time they are 25 years old. On a daily basis, I answer a variety of health, diet, and exercise related questions as well as dispel false pretenses that patients have. There is a plethora of medical information out there and people are generally overwhelmed by the data and want to know what they should be doing and how the medical information relates to them.  This data can create a tremendous amount of anxiety for patients that leads to its own problems. 

An annual exam gives me the chance to see my patients, form a connection to them, and answer questions that they have. We review family history and social history. We talk about current health issues in the media and how it should effect them. We talk about what screening is appropriate and what’s not and have a chance to look at blood pressure and weight.  Most importantly I think that patients leave with a sense of well being that gives them one less thing to worry about. Knowing they are healthy and that that they have been heard and their concerns addressed conveys a sense of well being that may not be able to be calculated on a cost basis.