DoDMERB process

A

armydaughter

5-Year Member
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Apr 18, 2012
Messages
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So, the Admissions Officer told my son that as soon as he finishes his personal statements, he will be receiving information on the DODMERB. Can someone give us an idea what to expect? Do we need to hunt up his medical records ahead of time?
 
son just had his dodmerb optometry exam (took 15 minutes) and physical (took 50 minutes) today. It was the first time he had to pee in a cup (that kind of freaked him about a bit) I didnt go in with him but he was laughing and joking with the doctors and nurses on the way out and they couldn't have been nicer. They met with me afterwards (as son is a minor) and told me all went fine. He had to read a paragraph out loud, had an audiological evaluation and took a standard physical. He had to wear glasses for three days (instead of contacts). no paperwork required at all. it really couldn't have been easier.
 
Thanks. I was ROTC a million years ago and when I went for my contract physical I remember about 150 questions of "do you have or have you ever had?". I am not sure my son knows the answer to all of those questions. The few minor medical issue he ever had were before he was 4 years old. Should I give him a quick rundown of his medical history?
 
Something my ALO had told me was "If its not in your records you never had it". Seemed like good advice to me, figured id pass it on.
 
McCoy said:
Something my ALO had told me was "If its not in your records you never had it". Seemed like good advice to me, figured id pass it on.
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And I guess that's my concern. If my son doesn't remember something from when he was very young but it's in his medical record, will it look like he withheld information?
 
You actually fill out all the paperwork before hand, print it and bring it. He filled it out with me sitting next to him. It was kind of a trip down memory lane. So he did not go into the office without all the information and knowing how to answer each question. No worries, really!
 
armydaughter said:
And I guess that's my concern. If my son doesn't remember something from when he was very young but it's in his medical record, will it look like he withheld information?
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I would think they would understand if that was the case. If its in his records I'm sure it wouldn't hurt for him to be aware of it if he does not remember. I don't believe it should be much of a problem. Vista is right, you should be fine.
 
Vista123 said:
You actually fill out all the paperwork before hand, print it and bring it. He filled it out with me sitting next to him. It was kind of a trip down memory lane. So he did not go into the office without all the information and knowing how to answer each question. No worries, really!
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That's exactly what I wanted to know. When I did mine, I didn't fill anything out ahead of time; it was an interview with the doctor asking all the questions and I needed a ready answer. If we are able to fill the paperwork out ahead of time, I can remind him of those early days. :thumb:
 
without exaggeration-in this entire maze of an application process Dodmerb was the easiest step.

good luck to your son.
 
DoDMERB is like a woman's pregnancy and birth.

Some posters will have nightmare stories, some it will be a walk in the park. Like a pregnancy nobody enters expecting they will be aligning with the nightmare posters. Like a pregnancy, all you know is you will go through it, and you hope to be the walk in the park, but prepare yourself to be the nightmare. Like a pregnancy, don't listen too much to the nightmare stories. It is a case by case scenario.

One thing I strongly advise is to be aware that the exam is only the 1st hurdle. If the candidate/cadet gets injured even after qualifying, they must inform the branch.

DS had no DQ's when he went as a sr. in hs. However, knowing that 4 yrs later he would have another exam, this time for commissioning any injury that may occur during those yrs were going to be addressed immediately. If they think they may have injured their foot playing ultimate frisbee, have it checked out for safety sake. It is not the time to play arm chair doctor. Don't confuse this with going to the doc for a limp, but if it was still a problem a few days later he went. PT and running on a hairline fracture can become a bigger issue than you want to deal with.
 
For other posters and lurkers who may read this discussion: If you have had broken bones, operations, stitches, etc it pays to start pulling records, documentation, films, etc together in case you need it later in the process. If you have moved often (as we have), the records can take time to gather.

In my son's case, we pre empted the process and sent documenation of broken bones, etc ahead of time at the direction of Larry Mullen who used to monitor and provide guidance on this site years ago.

As already noted, the physical itself is one of the easiest steps in this process.
 
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