Now that more and more children will be returning to the classroom this year, our practitioners want to make sure you have all the information you need about the back-to-school services we offer.
“Our goal is to help every child reach their full potential,” says Dr. Deepak Ariga, Chief Medical Officer at Greater Family Health. “By making sure your child gets proper medical care — starting at birth — our practitioners will partner with you to help achieve this goal. Our practitioners at Greater Family Health feel privileged to help your child grow healthy through the years.”
Here’s a snapshot of the services we offer:
Well-Child Care Visits
We want to see your child throughout their life, not just when they’re sick.
Through well-child care visits, we screen children and ensure they are up-to-date with their immunizations. It is recommended that we see your child yearly from age 3 to 21. From infancy until age 2 ½, we’ll see your child 11 times.
“We know this might seem like a lot of visits, but well-child care visits are a great opportunity for you to talk to your pediatrician about how your child is developing, learning, and growing,” says Dr. Ariga. “Also, it’s the perfect time to talk to us about any concerns you’re having about your child.”
Sports physicals
Whether your child is an all-star athlete or just likes to shoot hoops in the neighborhood, we recommend that all children, starting in middle school, get a sports physical. To make things easier, this can be done during a routine well-child visit, too.
If your child participates in an organized sport at school or on an away team, they’ll get a sports physical form that your pediatrician can fill out. The purpose of a sports physical is to make sure we catch any issues or life-threatening problems that could prevent the child from safely playing a sport.
For starters, we’ll take a look at your child’s heart health. Then, we’ll take their blood pressure and ask you about any family history of heart disease. Although sudden cardiac death is rare in child athletes, we just want to make sure we have the complete picture of your child’s heart.
We know female athletes are at higher risk for bone and joint injuries. By asking the right questions during the sports physical, we can help develop a treatment program to keep your child safe.
Some sports carry more risk for concussions and head injuries than others. Although we can’t prevent a concussion from happening (except not having your child play in high-contact sports), we can talk about what you can do if your child has a concussion during practice or game time.
Immunization scheduling
Our practitioners will make sure your child is up to date on their vaccinations. Following an immunization schedule is important because vaccines protect your child and the community from life-threatening diseases.
“The reason why we follow a schedule is that each immunization works with your child’s immune system at each stage of their development,” says Dr.Ariga. “Of course, any of our practitioners are happy to talk to you about each vaccine and how it will protect your child.”
- Learn more about the immunization schedule we follow for children from birth to age six.
- Learn more about the immunization schedule we follow for children ages seven to 18.
Dental exams
All Illinois children in kindergarten, grade two, grade six, and grade nine are required to have an oral health examination. This is required for all public, private, and parochial schools. Dental services are available at Greater Family Health’s 450 Dundee Avenue location in Elgin.
