Acne or acutane, which one should I take my chances with?

Chris Grey

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Joined
Jul 1, 2015
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13
Hi, I'm a rising senior in high school, and I'm applying to USNA, USAFA, and USMA, with USNA as my top choice.

I had a couple of questions regarding my DoDMERB. I have some mild to moderate acne, and I am taking Solodyne and topically applying tazorac and aczone currently. I just had my DoDMERB appointments a couple weeks ago, and was wondering if my acne could disqualify me.

My parents and my dermatologist are also talking about putting me on acutane. I have heard that acutane will DQ you, but what are the rules about that?

Thanks in advance!
 
Skin
"Chronic diseases such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and eczema are disqualifying. Severe acne is disqualifying until successfully treated. If a course of Accutane is undertaken, this should be completed, with documentation of a favorable outcome six weeks prior to Induction Day. Pilonidal cyst, if evidenced by a discharging mass, is disqualifying until repaired successfully."

I found this on the USNA web site under Admissions. It took less than 1 minute. I bet USAFA and USMA have similar information. Granted, I did have to wade through a lot of other information and details on other common disqualifying conditions before I came to this, but there really is a lot there and there is nothing anybody can tell you here that will be more authoritative than the horse's mouth.
 
If you do a search on the DoDMERB forum you will find many posts regarding Accutane. Here is one of them: http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/index.php?threads/accutane-question.42297/#post-414768

If you have any other questions you can research the DoDMERB site, but from what I have read, you have to finish the medication and be off of it 8 weeks prior to reporting. If you are going to start it, I would do your research or even contact DoDMERB ASAP because normal course of treatment is 5 to 6 months. If that is your case, and of course, you will have to talk to your doctor, you have plenty of time to be treated and cleared before reporting to I-day. Good luck to you!
 
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