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Medical Condition "Bible"

J

jacks

New Member
My vision has detiorated quite a bit recently, and I'm wondering am I able to get laser vision correction from a civilian source and still be qualified to become a naval aviator?
 
Hi,

This is a complex situation so please bear with me. It has been my goal to apply to Naval Intelligence since University. I have been on Ritalin since I was 12 (one of those 90's things). For one to be eligible to apply to the Navy one has to be off of Ritalin for 2 years.

I ended my Ritalin prescription at the end of my 3rd year of university. My 4th year grades were unaffected. I will have been off of Ritalin for 2 years in July 2013. I will then by applying to the upcoming Naval Intelligence Fall board.


Here is the thing, my OSO has told me that because I have been on Ritalin for so long I need to get a medical waiver in order to apply. I had initially tried to apply before the end of the 2 year mark and was denied. So I am hoping this waiver will work out. My OSO recommends that I enroll in an online academic course to prove to the doctors I am capable of functioning off of Ritalin.

Assuming I do all of this can anyone shed lights on my chances of getting my medical dilemma wavered?

Any help would be greatly appreciated,
rhb429
 
Anything dealing with psych meds is a crapshoot, I have seen people I thought would never get cleared be cleared, I have seen people with minor issues get DQ'd, the longer you have been on them the harder it generally is as that indicates the doc was right and there was an issue.

I would also encourage you to look at the stats of those selected for Intel recently, in general they have active duty experience, or if no AD experience they had a technical degree, the overall selection rate is very low as well.

If you want to be a Naval Officer then apply for anything you can, out of nearly 1000 people that are sent to OCS only 55 will be Intel this year.
 
Thanks for the information.
I have earned my TEFL Certificate and will be moving to Moscow in April to teach English for one year. So I am hoping that knowing Russian/earning this certificate will prove to MEPS that I can function without Ritalin.
Who knows....
 
Hi, I just heard back from the July boards and I've been pro req'd for Pilot and NFO. I still have to do the medical, and I have four medical issues which I am a bit concerned about. The first two there is nothing I can do about, but I'd like your advice on what might come of them. The second two, I have actually never been diagnosed by a doctor for, hence there is nothing on my medical history about them. What do you think?

If you're curious, I'm 25 years old and I have a BS in Computer Engineering from UVA. My GPA was 3.1. I got good scores on the ASTB (I don't remember what they were, but at least one was in the 99th percentile).

Medical issues:

Vision. I wear glasses. One of my eyes is -1, the other is -1.5. I don't know what this translates to on the 20/XX scale. I know that some pilot programs do not allow natural vision worse that 20/40. Should I be concerned? If I am right on the line will they deny me entrance to those programs? Is there anything I can do to improve my score when I get my vision tested at the medical?

Shoulder. I had major reconstructive surgery on my left shoulder in May 2010. My shoulder feels fine now, and I haven't had any pain in two years. My left shoulder is visibly different from my right shoulder with my shirt off, and if you are looking for it. There is a slight bump. I can BP 225 and do 50 push-ups in a row (I know that's not that high - I'm working on stamina). I have all of the documentation. Is there any chance this will preclude me from certain programs?

Acid Reflux. I have chronic acid reflux. If I take Omeprazole (Prilosec) every day, and smack it down with Famotidine (PEPCID) whenever it flares up, it gives me no problems. Neither of these drugs have ANY side effect. If I DON'T medicate it, it can be quite painful. Both of these medications are OTC. I have never been diagnosed by a doctor with this problem, and have never been prescribed medication for it. What should I say about this on my medical? Is it possible this would be a problem? Will I have access to this medication at OCS?

Gluten Intolerance. I am allergic to gluten, the primary protein found in wheat and barley. Not badly allergic, but enough that if I eat a piece of bread or have a glass of beer I'll get a slight headache and possibly abdominal pain. If I eat a big plate of pasta, I'll have get a severe headache and diarrhea. Mixing my food with gluteny food is not that big of a deal, but I do need to avoid foods with large quantities of gluten in them. Again, I have never been diagnosed by a doctor. I was gene-tested for susceptibility by a private lab and I confirmed it by taking it out of my diet then adding it back in. How should I include this in my medical? Will I be able to eat food without gluten (i.e. no breads, pastas, etc) at OCS?

Thanks for your help in advance! Any insight would be appreciated.
 
MJT said:
Shoulder. I had major reconstructive surgery on my left shoulder in May 2010. My shoulder feels fine now, and I haven't had any pain in two years. My left shoulder is visibly different from my right shoulder with my shirt off, and if you are looking for it. There is a slight bump. I can BP 225 and do 50 push-ups in a row (I know that's not that high - I'm working on stamina). I have all of the documentation. Is there any chance this will preclude me from certain programs?
Click to expand...
The absolute max number of push-ups they'd ever require is 47 (a Good on the PFA for males 20-24), and I think it's 44 for your age group, so 50 should be fine, assuming you're using correct form to count those. Just make sure they teach you "the OCS way" to do push-ups when you get there, to give you a bit more of a margin there.
Gluten Intolerance. I am allergic to gluten, the primary protein found in wheat and barley. Not badly allergic, but enough that if I eat a piece of bread or have a glass of beer I'll get a slight headache and possibly abdominal pain. If I eat a big plate of pasta, I'll have get a severe headache and diarrhea. Mixing my food with gluteny food is not that big of a deal, but I do need to avoid foods with large quantities of gluten in them. Again, I have never been diagnosed by a doctor. I was gene-tested for susceptibility by a private lab and I confirmed it by taking it out of my diet then adding it back in. How should I include this in my medical? Will I be able to eat food without gluten (i.e. no breads, pastas, etc) at OCS?
Click to expand...

Usually the way it's done at the galley at Ney Hall is you'll pick one entree from three options (one of them is vegan/vegetarian, the others they try to split between fish, chicken, beef, or turkey), one side from two options (usually pretty carb-heavy like rice and potatoes), and one or two veggie options. In addition they have the salad bar and "hot-wets" (oatmeal or grits in the morning, soup/stew/chowder later in the day). I don't know much about what's considered gluten-free, but you'll have to let them know about your specific dietary preferences, and they can take it from there. Sometimes they'll have stuff like chicken sandwiches or fajitas, but you can ask for them without the bread or tortilla, they're usually pretty good about that sort of stuff.
 
MJT said:
Hi, I just heard back from the July boards and I've been pro req'd for Pilot and NFO. I still have to do the medical, and I have four medical issues which I am a bit concerned about.
Click to expand...
Congrats on your selection/pro rec. FYI, for questions regarding medical issues, it is always best to get your advice from Aviation Medical pros (Flight Surgeon/Physiologist), especially for those aspiring to be SNA/SNFOs. Questions like those you have asked above... should be posted on the DOC's Corner forum, in the thread The Doctor is in! Ask a Flight Surgeon.:)

D'backs/Orioles 4-4 in the 10th. Go Arizona!;)
BzB
 
MJT said:
Hi, I just heard back from the July boards and I've been pro req'd for Pilot and NFO. I still have to do the medical, and I have four medical issues which I am a bit concerned about. The first two there is nothing I can do about, but I'd like your advice on what might come of them. The second two, I have actually never been diagnosed by a doctor for, hence there is nothing on my medical history about them. What do you think?

If you're curious, I'm 25 years old and I have a BS in Computer Engineering from UVA. My GPA was 3.1. I got good scores on the ASTB (I don't remember what they were, but at least one was in the 99th percentile).

Medical issues:

Vision. I wear glasses. One of my eyes is -1, the other is -1.5. I don't know what this translates to on the 20/XX scale. I know that some pilot programs do not allow natural vision worse that 20/40. Should I be concerned? If I am right on the line will they deny me entrance to those programs? Is there anything I can do to improve my score when I get my vision tested at the medical?

Shoulder. I had major reconstructive surgery on my left shoulder in May 2010. My shoulder feels fine now, and I haven't had any pain in two years. My left shoulder is visibly different from my right shoulder with my shirt off, and if you are looking for it. There is a slight bump. I can BP 225 and do 50 push-ups in a row (I know that's not that high - I'm working on stamina). I have all of the documentation. Is there any chance this will preclude me from certain programs?

Acid Reflux. I have chronic acid reflux. If I take Omeprazole (Prilosec) every day, and smack it down with Famotidine (PEPCID) whenever it flares up, it gives me no problems. Neither of these drugs have ANY side effect. If I DON'T medicate it, it can be quite painful. Both of these medications are OTC. I have never been diagnosed by a doctor with this problem, and have never been prescribed medication for it. What should I say about this on my medical? Is it possible this would be a problem? Will I have access to this medication at OCS?

Gluten Intolerance. I am allergic to gluten, the primary protein found in wheat and barley. Not badly allergic, but enough that if I eat a piece of bread or have a glass of beer I'll get a slight headache and possibly abdominal pain. If I eat a big plate of pasta, I'll have get a severe headache and diarrhea. Mixing my food with gluteny food is not that big of a deal, but I do need to avoid foods with large quantities of gluten in them. Again, I have never been diagnosed by a doctor. I was gene-tested for susceptibility by a private lab and I confirmed it by taking it out of my diet then adding it back in. How should I include this in my medical? Will I be able to eat food without gluten (i.e. no breads, pastas, etc) at OCS?

Thanks for your help in advance! Any insight would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

I can tell you from my OR experience that what I am going to tell you is not good news.

vision, if you are any worse than 20/40 SNA is a no go.

shoulder, you will get a consult that will determine what happens here.

acid reflux, doesn't matter if over the counter or not I have not had someone who had to take any medication get cleared.

gluten, my old boss WAS a Naval Aviator, when it was determined he had a gluten intolerance he was flagged as non deployable and restricted to flying inside the continental US, and then was re-designated to HR.
 
I had heard (but not directly from a medical professional) any gluten intolerance significant enough to bring up is pretty much a DQ and not likely to be waivered.
 
A heads up for any future SNA/SNFO/SWO and I think Supply applicants as well, but medical (2807 form) MUST be done prior to submitting your kit. Don't have it done, doesn't get submitted.

Also I agree with NavyOR's comments... your medical history doesn't stand a good chance for approval for service. Some stuff looks waiverable, but generally any condition requiring medication or resulting in a non-deployable status is grounds for DQ.
 
RUFiO181 said:
A heads up for any future SNA/SNFO/SWO and I think Supply applicants as well, but medical (2807 form) MUST be done prior to submitting your kit. Don't have it done, doesn't get submitted.

Also I agree with NavyOR's comments... your medical history doesn't stand a good chance for approval for service. Some stuff looks waiverable, but generally any condition requiring medication or resulting in a non-deployable status is grounds for DQ.
Click to expand...

They have been trying to do this for about a year, I hope it finally gets instituted!
 
It's bad practice otherwise. Worst thing you ever want to do is call an applicant to say they're PROREC'd YES to find out later that they're not PQ'd.
 
RUFiO181 said:
It's bad practice otherwise. Worst thing you ever want to do is call an applicant to say they're PROREC'd YES to find out later that they're not PQ'd.
Click to expand...

It does suck, had to do it. In general if I had a great applicant or one that I thought might have medical issues I would get their physicals done while we were doing the paperwork.
 
RUFiO181 said:
It's bad practice otherwise. Worst thing you ever want to do is call an applicant to say they're PROREC'd YES to find out later that they're not PQ'd.
Click to expand...

What's even worse is getting NPQ'ed further down the line. We had a slew of NA/NFO seelectees in our OCS class that got NPQ'ed right around candio phase. Especially for stuff that should've shown up at MEPS, that was the kicker.
 
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