Annual Physical Exams in Southlake, TX
A full exam, labs drawn on site, and a written plan you leave with. Usually covered at no cost.
We see patients age 16 and older.
An annual physical at Magnolia is a full head-to-toe exam, a lab draw you can do before you leave, and a written plan in your hand the same day. Rachael Bowen, NP goes through your history, checks the numbers that predict trouble years ahead of symptoms, and tells you plainly which ones need attention and which ones do not.
What the visit covers
- A complete physical exam: heart, lungs, abdomen, skin, thyroid, lymph nodes, and a neurological screen
- Blood pressure taken properly, plus pulse, height, weight and BMI
- Lab work, usually a comprehensive metabolic panel, lipid panel, CBC, and A1c when your age or risk factors call for it
- A full review of every medication and supplement you take, prescription or not
- Vaccine history and what you are due for
- Cancer screening review based on your age, sex, family history and personal risk
- Depression and anxiety screening, because mood changes how everything else gets managed
What actually happens
Most of the appointment is conversation. Rachael asks about your history, your family history, what has changed since last year, and what is actually bothering you, which is often not what you wrote on the form. The physical exam follows.
If you need labs, they are drawn here. You do not need to drive to a separate lab and repeat the check-in process.
Results usually come back in two to three business days and arrive through the patient portal with a plain-English note explaining what each number means. Not a list of flagged values with no context. If something needs a conversation, we call you rather than waiting for you to notice a message.
Blood pressure, taken correctly
A blood pressure reading taken thirty seconds after you sit down, with your arm dangling, is close to meaningless. We seat you, wait, support your arm at heart level, and use a cuff that fits. If the number is high we recheck it before we act on it.
This sounds like a small thing. It is the difference between correctly identifying hypertension and putting someone on a medication they did not need.
The written plan
Every physical ends with a short document: what we are watching, what we are treating, what you are due for, and when we want to see you next. You leave with it. It goes in the portal too.
Most healthy adults come back once a year. If we start treating something new, we usually recheck in six to twelve weeks first, then settle into a longer interval once the numbers hold.
Labs we run and why
The panel is not the same for everyone. A 24-year-old with no family history does not need the same workup as a 58-year-old whose father had a heart attack at 55.
Typical baseline for an adult physical:
- Comprehensive metabolic panel for kidney function, liver enzymes, electrolytes, glucose and calcium
- Lipid panel for total cholesterol, LDL, HDL and triglycerides, with non-HDL calculated
- CBC to catch anemia, infection and blood count abnormalities
- A1c starting at 35, or earlier with obesity, a family history, or a history of gestational diabetes
- TSH when symptoms or history point that direction
- Vitamin D and B12 when fatigue, diet or medications make deficiency plausible
We add lipoprotein(a) once in your life if you have a family history of early heart disease. It is genetic, common, invisible on a standard panel, and it never changes, so once is genuinely enough.
Who this is for
We see patients age 16 and older. If you are already managing diabetes, high blood pressure or thyroid disease, your physical and your ongoing chronic condition management work together, and we keep them on separate visits so neither gets rushed into twenty minutes.
Patients on Medicare should know the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit is a different and more limited service. Many people want both. We can schedule them back to back.
If a physical turns up something that needs following, we handle it here rather than handing you a referral and moving on. A high reading during a routine visit becomes a scheduled follow-up, not a note in a chart you never see.
New to us? Read about our primary care Southlake practice, or see what to bring to your first visit.
Questions about your own case?
These pages describe how we treat this generally. What matters is your history, your labs and your medications, and that takes a visit. We are taking new patients now and most major insurance is accepted.
Questions patients ask
How long does an annual physical take?
Plan on 40 to 45 minutes with Rachael Bowen, NP. Add about 15 minutes if you want labs drawn the same day, which most people do.
Is my annual physical free?
Most commercial plans cover one preventive visit per year with no copay. If part of the visit turns into managing an active problem, like adjusting a blood pressure medication, that portion can be billed separately. We tell you in the room before that happens rather than letting you find out on a bill.
Do I need to fast?
Yes if we are checking cholesterol or fasting glucose. Nothing to eat for 9 to 12 hours beforehand, keep drinking water, and take your regular medications unless you have been told otherwise. If you are not sure, call and ask.
I feel fine. Do I really need this every year?
Feeling fine is when this visit earns its keep. High blood pressure, prediabetes and high cholesterol are silent for years. Catching them at the number stage is far easier than treating the damage stage.
Can you fill out a work, school or sports physical form?
Yes, for patients age 16 and older. Bring the form and we finish it during the visit so you are not chasing paperwork afterward.
Related care at Magnolia
2111 Kirkwood Blvd, Ste 110C, Southlake. Free parking directly in front.