Steve was the athletic trainer at John F. Kennedy High School. One of his responsibilities was to coordinate the annual physical examinations for all students planning to participate in interscholastic athletics. The school's policy was that every student-athlete must have a comprehensive physical examination administered by a licensed physician a maximum of one year before participation. When Dr. Martinson had been the school's team physician, he had conducted all the physicals at his office during two nights in the spring. Students who failed to get a physical at that time had to get a physical from their own doctor. The new team physician, Dr. Mulligan, told Steve he wanted to do things differently. Instead of having the students come to his office, he wanted to conduct the physicals in the gym. He told Steve to organize the details.

Steve decided to use a stationed approach. The girls would come the first night and the boys on the second. Each of the several stations would be run by a volunteer. Steve figured that he would need approximately 20 volunteers each night. He would need at least four physicians, two nurses, and three athletic trainers or physical therapists from the local clinic. The rest of the volunteers could be coaches or parents. Steve decided to send out a letter to all of the medical and allied health volunteers. He asked the coach of each team to help and to bring one parent volunteer. He anticipated approximately 250 students each night.

On the first night of physicals, Steve was surprised when nearly 300 students showed up. Unfortunately, two of the physicians who had promised to come had been called to the hospital for emergencies. That left him with only two doctors for 300 physicals. After about the third hour of waiting in line, many of the students simply gave up, walked to the last station, and turned in their physical cards without being examined by a doctor.

When the fall sports began practice in August, many of the coaches were furious that their best players couldn't begin practice because they hadn't had a physical examination. When Steve told the irate coaches that their athletes simply had to have a physical exam in order to participate, they decided to go over his head to the athletic director. The athletic director listened to their complaints and decided to allow those students without physicals to begin practicing as long as they received a physical before the first game. When Steve told Dr. Mulligan about the AD's decision, the team physician was so upset he decided to call his good friend, the school board president, to complain about the irrational and dangerous decision of the AD.

Questions for Analysis

2. What alternatives exist for organizing physical exams? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each alternative?
4. Was Steve's method for organizing the physical exams effective? Was it efficient? How could it have been improved?
6. Was the high school's policy on physical examinations sound? Was it consistent with the physical examination policies of other athletic organizations (e.g., NFHS, NCAA)? Did the procedure established by Steve adequately support the policy?
8. What are the legal implications of the AD's decision to allow some students to participate before completing their physical examinations? How are these legal ramifications related to the school's policy?
10. How is the physical examination problem likely to affect the organizational climate of the school's athletic department? How is it likely to affect the relationship between the school and Dr. Mulligan? Between Dr. Mulligan and Steve?
12. How could this situation have been avoided? What would you have done if you had been in Steve's position?