Physical examination

thumb|200px|A resident physician at the Granada Relocation Center, examining a patient's throat A physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination (more popularly known as a check-up) is the process by which a medical professional investigates the body of a patient for signs of disease. It generally follows the taking of the medical history—an account of the symptoms as experienced by the patient. Together with the medical history, the physical examination aids in determining the correct diagnosis and devising the treatment plan. This data then becomes part of the medical record. Quotes Physical Examination relates to those phaenomena which a person examining can discover for himself by means of his own senses, and without any reference to the sensations of the patient. Most parts of the body may undergo a physical examination; the immediate results thereby obtained are called Signs and symptoms Physical Signs. Samuel Gee Samuel Jones Gee, Auscultation and Percussion together with Other Methods of Physical Examination of the Chest 6th Oxford Medical Publications London Henry Frowde 1908 https://books.google.com/books?id=2I1J2J14av8C&pg=PA1 1 (285 pages; 1st edition 1870) Don’t touch the patient—state first what you see; cultivate your powers of observation. Sir William Osler, quoted in Harvey Cushing, The Life of Sir William Osler (1925) External links Category:Health