Hope College

Pre-Physical Exam (PPE)

Before beginning competition, all Hope College athletes will be required to have a pre-participation exam (PPE) on file. All first year student-athletes must get their pre-participation exam with their primary care physician at home prior to coming to campus. Returning student-athletes are NOT required to get a PPE prior to arrival on campus. The PPE is designed to determine if athletes are physically and medically able to participate in athletic competition at Hope. The NCAA and our team physician require all previous medical history items be disclosed at the time of the PPE. Download a PPE.

All student-athletes will also complete a PPE update when they arrive on campus, head coaches will notify athletes of the scheduled time for their PPE update.

Sickle Cell Results

First-year and transfer student-athletes are also required to have documentation of their sickle cell trait status. The NCAA recommends and Hope College requires documentation of sickle cell trait status prior to participation. The results of this test only need to be documented initially before the student-athletes first season of participation. This test result can be obtained during the PPE with your provider. Documentation of the sickle cell test results should be emailed to athletictraining@hope.edu, making sure to include the athlete's name and the sport(s) they will be competing in at Hope. If sickle cell trait status is unable to be obtained prior to arriving on campus, a simple test can be provided to you when you report to campus for preseason at the cost of $20.

Athletic Training System (ATS)

The Hope College Athletic Training Staff uses Athletic Training Software (ATS) to maintain current medical records for Hope student-athletes. All student-athletes will be responsible for entering/updating their information in the system. All current student-athletes must have their account completed in order to be eligible to participate in team activities. Team activities include weightlifting, practice, games, and non-traditional seasons.  If you have any questions, contact Erik Byl at 616.826.2381 or byl@hope.edu.  To begin here are the checklists for New Student-Athletes and Returning Student-Athletes.

Medications And Medical Conditions

If you have been diagnosed with a medical condition that requires prescription medication you are required by Hope College and the NCAA to provide a copy of your prescription, complete with physician's office name/signature, medication name, and dose. This needs to be submitted to your Hope medical file prior to your pre-participation exam. Some substances are banned by the NCAA (i.e. ADHD or ADD medication) and in the event of drug testing your prescription needs to be on file in order for a medical exemption application to be filed on your behalf with the NCAA, preventing any sanctions affecting your participation status.

Medically, if you have cardiac, respiratory, diabetes, recent surgeries, or other medical conditions, which require frequent check-ups, monitoring, clearance or testing, please bring/submit documentation allowing for participation in sports. Any recent test results or diagnoses of these conditions, as well as the management plans for them, should be included from your family physician/specialist. Please submit any/all documentation, which might clear you from this requirement or have updated testing performed at home before you arrive on campus and have your results ready to share with the physician during your PPE. If the Hope physician feels additional testing is required for participation, this will be determined during the pre-participation exam.

Download the NCAA Medical Exception Documentation Report Form (PDF).

ImPACT Test