Abstract
Traditional medical pedagogy stresses the importance of a complete patient history and physical exam. Though this is extremely relevant for the purposes of learning and perfecting skills, the reality of clinical practice does not allow the clinician to complete a full examination at each patient visit. Therefore, clinicians need to decide how to narrow the focus. When is it appropriate to perform focused history taking and examinations? What can the clinician use to guide these decisions? Evidence-based recommendations for prevention and screening can support the decision process and help guide the content of the encounter with the patient and the care provided. This chapter will highlight the importance of prevention, harm reduction, and thoughtful screening to better inform the physical examination and health maintenance planning.
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Conigliaro, J., Kapoor, S. (2022). Screening/Physical Exam/Health Maintenance. In: Sydney, E., Weinstein, E., Rucker, L.M. (eds) Handbook of Outpatient Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15353-2_1
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