Women's Health Checkup

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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here

Learn More

• Specifics

See, Play and Learn

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Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Teenagers
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Regular health exams and tests can help find problems before they start. They also can help find problems early, when your chances for treatment are better. As a woman, you need some special exams and screenings. During your checkup, your health care provider will usually do:

• A pelvic exam - an exam to check if internal female organs are normal by feeling their shape and size.
• A Pap test - a test to check for cancer of the cervix, the opening to a woman's uterus. Cells from the cervix are examined under a microscope.
• A clinical breast exam - to check for breast cancer by feeling and looking at your breasts.

Your health care provider may also recommend other tests, including a mammogram or a test for HPV.

Start Here

• Your First Gynecologic Visit (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) - PDF Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Mammograms (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health) Also in Spanish
• Pap and HPV Testing (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Pelvic Exam (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Ultrasound -- Pelvis (American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Women's Health (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Gestational weight gain, nutritional status and blood pressure in pregnant women.
• Article: Review of average sized male and female occupant models in European...
• Article: Predictive utility of subtyping women smokers on depression, eating, and weight-related...
• Women's Health Checkup -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• womenshealth.gov (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

• Gyn Checkups (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Why See a Gynecologist? (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health)
• Your Daughter's First Gynecological Exam (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Your First Pelvic Exam: A Guide for Teens (Children's Hospital Boston) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Cervical cancer -- screening and prevention (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Health screening - women - age 18 - 39 (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Health screening - women - age 40 - 64 (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Health screening - women - over 65 (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Pap and HPV Testing (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Women's health (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish