WVU to offer free sports physicals on June 4

Junior high and high school students eligible

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University physicians, staff and students will provide free sports physicals to junior high and high school students on June 4 at HealthWorks Rehab and Fitness and the WVU Sports Medicine Center on Maple Drive in Morgantown. The exams will start at 8 a.m.

Mathew Lively, D.O., a WVU Healthcare physician who specializes in sports medicine and pediatrics, expects to provide 400 free physicals to area students at the event on Saturday.

“It’s probably the most extensive sports physical that many of these athletes will ever have,” Dr. Lively, who’s also medical director for WVU athletics, said. “It includes an EKG (electrocardiogram), and as we’ve all heard, the incidence of sudden death from cardiac issues for athletes has been increasing in recent times. We can help screen people for risk factors with the EKG and perhaps prevent some cases of sudden death during sports participation."

Lively said one of the reasons why an EKG is not a regular part of a sports physical is because it’s expensive. 

The EKG screenings on Saturday will be read by cardiologists from WVU Children’s Hospital and the WVU Heart Institute. The physicals also offer orthopaedic exams, as well as flexibility and functional movement screens and treadmill gait evaluations. 

For more information about the free sports physicals, and to make an appointment, call 304-599-2515.