Ok guys, some of you are already aware that I'm having one hell of a time trying to get a flight physical scheduled and I need some help/advice that I can take to the deck plates on my boat to get this figured out! Here's my dilemma as it has transpired thus far:
1) I called Sewells Point to schedule an appointment for a flight physical and they told me that because I'm on a ship I can't schedule my own appointment for a flight physical and that I need a referral from my ship's medical dept.
2) So I talked with the HMC and HM2 at my ship's medical office and explained to them what was told to me by Sewells Point and they said they can't do referrals/consults for aviation medicine!! They told me to just "walk-in at 0700 when they open and see what happens!"
3) At this point I decided to involve my LCPO, who immedicately talked with the HMC and came back and told me that the HMC told him that I had to go make an appointment with Optometry @ Portsmouth and get an "Aviation eye exam" and then do separate walk-ins @ Sewells Point for blood work, chest x-rays and dental check-up, and then HMC would make me an appointment @ RSO for an EKG. Only after I do all of that can I go back to Sewells Point to have a flight surgeon review all of the results and approve me for flight duty.
4) Despite finding this hard to believe because everyone else that I've spoken to whom have already completed their flight physicals said they just called in an appointment and went and did everything in one day, done deal, I called Portsmouth and they said that not only do that not conduct "Aviation eye exams," but that they've NEVER heard of one!!
6) So I went back to ship's medical and told the HMC what I was told by Portmouth and he just gave me this blank stare. Then he pulled out my medical and dental records and handed them to me and said "I guess you'll just have to try and do a walk-in."
7) So I hop on the internet and look up Sewells Point's website and sure enough, in black and white on the home page, it states that flight physicals are by appointment only!!! I printed out the page and brought it to my LCPO and he said he'd go talk to the HMC again, but this was this past friday afternoon and the HMC was already gone by that time!
So basically I have no clue what I'm supposed to do in order to get this flight physical taken care of. My ship's medical dept. is full of incompetence and Sewells Point doesn't seem to care and still refuses to allow me to schedule my own appointment. Can anyone help me out and provide any advice on how I should go about getting this problem resolved before it's too late and I end up DQ'd from STA because I didn't get my forms in on time???
1) I called Sewells Point to schedule an appointment for a flight physical and they told me that because I'm on a ship I can't schedule my own appointment for a flight physical and that I need a referral from my ship's medical dept.
2) So I talked with the HMC and HM2 at my ship's medical office and explained to them what was told to me by Sewells Point and they said they can't do referrals/consults for aviation medicine!! They told me to just "walk-in at 0700 when they open and see what happens!"
3) At this point I decided to involve my LCPO, who immedicately talked with the HMC and came back and told me that the HMC told him that I had to go make an appointment with Optometry @ Portsmouth and get an "Aviation eye exam" and then do separate walk-ins @ Sewells Point for blood work, chest x-rays and dental check-up, and then HMC would make me an appointment @ RSO for an EKG. Only after I do all of that can I go back to Sewells Point to have a flight surgeon review all of the results and approve me for flight duty.
4) Despite finding this hard to believe because everyone else that I've spoken to whom have already completed their flight physicals said they just called in an appointment and went and did everything in one day, done deal, I called Portsmouth and they said that not only do that not conduct "Aviation eye exams," but that they've NEVER heard of one!!
6) So I went back to ship's medical and told the HMC what I was told by Portmouth and he just gave me this blank stare. Then he pulled out my medical and dental records and handed them to me and said "I guess you'll just have to try and do a walk-in."
7) So I hop on the internet and look up Sewells Point's website and sure enough, in black and white on the home page, it states that flight physicals are by appointment only!!! I printed out the page and brought it to my LCPO and he said he'd go talk to the HMC again, but this was this past friday afternoon and the HMC was already gone by that time!
So basically I have no clue what I'm supposed to do in order to get this flight physical taken care of. My ship's medical dept. is full of incompetence and Sewells Point doesn't seem to care and still refuses to allow me to schedule my own appointment. Can anyone help me out and provide any advice on how I should go about getting this problem resolved before it's too late and I end up DQ'd from STA because I didn't get my forms in on time???
