Medical Waiver Process

usafahopeful17

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In my quest for appointment to USAFA, i have been medically disqualified for a minor, week-long case of eczema that I had in the seventh grade. I am wondering if i will automatically be considered for a waiver by the review board, or if i need to take action. also, I'm wondering what my chances of getting a waiver are. I have received two nominations and my application is complete. Obviously, I am very concerned as march continues to become closer.
 
DoDMERB does not review and provide waivers -- the USAFA medical team is separate from DoDMERB and is the waiver authority

If your DQ status is on your DoDMERB screen, then USAFA probably knows. If your DQ status is on your USAFA cadet portal, then USAFA definitely knows.

Probably wouldn't hurt to send a brief nice email to your admissions POC asking if they know of your DQ status and also ask if they are going to pursue a waiver on your behalf. Whether they put you forward for a medical waiver may depend on their "competitive assessment" of your record. The worst place to be is in "limbo land."

Can't speculate on chances for waiver being granted once put forward.
 
Wouldn't hurt to have your doctor write a letter stating that condition should in no way impact military readiness.
 
I too got a medical DQ. USAFA will automatically consider you for a medical waiver if you are deemed competitive. I got one.
 
There is no way a doctor could guarantee a nut/treenut allergy wouldn't effect military readiness. The military has enough to do without making sure the millions of meals served each year are nut-free. Nuts (and their by products and cross-contaminants...oils, etc) are pervasive, and show up in the darnedest of foods. My D has this allergy and it requires hyper vigilance. We've had a couple close calls with products that should have been ok, but were either mislabeled or contaminated.

ETA: sorry... Wrong thread!!! Good luck on your waiver!
 
I'm going to say something that I don't want people to read into. And I'm not going to debate it either. I simply want to make a statement for anyone younger who is going to be applying for the class of 2020 or beyond and is reading this thread and using it as info for later. I reply many times in posts NOT to the original poster, but to the many lurkers who are reading them and may not have asked any specific questions.

I an not replying specifically to this post about a "week-long case of eczema" or ANY specific medical condition. But what I want to say is that during your application process, when you're filling out the medical portion, if you are thinking of putting down any medical condition that NO LONGER EXISTS, and was specifically a temporary condition, please check with your ALO and LOD first so they can check up channel to determine if it's considered something that should even be mentioned. Thus, preventing a situation where a can of worms are opened up that shouldn't even have been mentioned.

Again; do NOT read into what I'm saying. I'm not saying to lie on your application and to leave out information that should be there. And I'm not specifically addressing the "week-long case of eczema". I don't have the right answer for whether or not that should have been mentioned being it happened so long ago. But I have seen some individuals who put every imaginable thing on their medical survey. Do you think the academy cares if you had the flu or a cold? How about a twisted ankle playing kick ball in the 4th grade. Or that you cut your arm (No noticeable scar) when you were 10 years old with a knife while you and your dad were camping???

The point is; SOME PEOPLE, either because they think so or their Mom/Dad think it's right, put everything under the sun on their medical report. Every sprain, twist, cut, cold, sniffle, etc... If you do that, you are opening a can of worms. The reason the eczema in this post caught my attention, was because some people exaggerate their situation; or they don't know a better term for what happened to them, and they misrepresent the seriousness. (Not saying the original poster is doing this. DON'T READ INTO THIS). I had an individual a couple of years back who wrote down a skin condition they had. Some sort of allergic reaction. So it was written down as an allergy and other conditions. They initially were coded as medically disqualified. It took a lot of back and forth with his family doctor and the academy; but the result was that the individual had a case of Poison Oak. Do you think that is something that needed to be put on the medical portion of the application? Or at the very least, do you think the academy would have responded the same way if it said "Poison Oak" instead of an "Allergy or Allergic Reaction".

Point is: If it's a medical condition that is NOT ongoing; that was temporary; that is not recent; and isn't obvious; (Such as having a cancerous tumor removed); then check with your ALO and LOD so they can look into how the academy wants it reported. If at all.
 
I'm going to say something that I don't want people to read into. And I'm not going to debate it either. I simply want to make a statement for anyone younger who is going to be applying for the class of 2020 or beyond and is reading this thread and using it as info for later. I reply many times in posts NOT to the original poster, but to the many lurkers who are reading them and may not have asked any specific questions.

I an not replying specifically to this post about a "week-long case of eczema" or ANY specific medical condition. But what I want to say is that during your application process, when you're filling out the medical portion, if you are thinking of putting down any medical condition that NO LONGER EXISTS, and was specifically a temporary condition, please check with your ALO and LOD first so they can check up channel to determine if it's considered something that should even be mentioned. Thus, preventing a situation where a can of worms are opened up that shouldn't even have been mentioned.

Again; do NOT read into what I'm saying. I'm not saying to lie on your application and to leave out information that should be there. And I'm not specifically addressing the "week-long case of eczema". I don't have the right answer for whether or not that should have been mentioned being it happened so long ago. But I have seen some individuals who put every imaginable thing on their medical survey. Do you think the academy cares if you had the flu or a cold? How about a twisted ankle playing kick ball in the 4th grade. Or that you cut your arm (No noticeable scar) when you were 10 years old with a knife while you and your dad were camping???

The point is; SOME PEOPLE, either because they think so or their Mom/Dad think it's right, put everything under the sun on their medical report. Every sprain, twist, cut, cold, sniffle, etc... If you do that, you are opening a can of worms. The reason the eczema in this post caught my attention, was because some people exaggerate their situation; or they don't know a better term for what happened to them, and they misrepresent the seriousness. (Not saying the original poster is doing this. DON'T READ INTO THIS). I had an individual a couple of years back who wrote down a skin condition they had. Some sort of allergic reaction. So it was written down as an allergy and other conditions. They initially were coded as medically disqualified. It took a lot of back and forth with his family doctor and the academy; but the result was that the individual had a case of Poison Oak. Do you think that is something that needed to be put on the medical portion of the application? Or at the very least, do you think the academy would have responded the same way if it said "Poison Oak" instead of an "Allergy or Allergic Reaction".

Point is: If it's a medical condition that is NOT ongoing; that was temporary; that is not recent; and isn't obvious; (Such as having a cancerous tumor removed); then check with your ALO and LOD so they can look into how the academy wants it reported. If at all.

Agree 100% with this! My niece had a medical evaluation for Navy. She put down that she had a mole removed for cancer. Horrible way to state this! EVERY mole removed is biopsied for cancer. Her's was fine, but you guessed it - she was DQed. Be very careful and very clear!

Edit: the question she was asked was, "do you have or have you ever had cancer?" The correct response, in her case, was "no."
 
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as an old AF doc and prior waiver authority at AFA, this is certainly waiverable, Christcorp is correct, be very careful about reading into questions and being "too" honest- this actually creates a lot of work by the waiver authority we would not want to do. While lying is NOT acceptable in chronic conditions, get good advise before any "yes" answer on your physical form. Eczema is a chronic condition so doesn't meet the description of a "week long" rash , Eczema is DQ by DoDMerb - but a letter from your doctor or dermatologist stating you don't have this and you have normal exam and no chronic treatment, a waiver should be given (although never guaranteed). I would immediately get this info together and ask for a waiver , this is not always done by the AFA unless you request (make sure you are truly disqualified first/ DoDMerb often asks for clarification. Hope this helps
 
I'm going to say something that I don't want people to read into. And I'm not going to debate it either. I simply want to make a statement for anyone younger who is going to be applying for the class of 2020 or beyond and is reading this thread and using it as info for later. I reply many times in posts NOT to the original poster, but to the many lurkers who are reading them and may not have asked any specific questions.

I an not replying specifically to this post about a "week-long case of eczema" or ANY specific medical condition. But what I want to say is that during your application process, when you're filling out the medical portion, if you are thinking of putting down any medical condition that NO LONGER EXISTS, and was specifically a temporary condition, please check with your ALO and LOD first so they can check up channel to determine if it's considered something that should even be mentioned. Thus, preventing a situation where a can of worms are opened up that shouldn't even have been mentioned.

Again; do NOT read into what I'm saying. I'm not saying to lie on your application and to leave out information that should be there. And I'm not specifically addressing the "week-long case of eczema". I don't have the right answer for whether or not that should have been mentioned being it happened so long ago. But I have seen some individuals who put every imaginable thing on their medical survey. Do you think the academy cares if you had the flu or a cold? How about a twisted ankle playing kick ball in the 4th grade. Or that you cut your arm (No noticeable scar) when you were 10 years old with a knife while you and your dad were camping???

The point is; SOME PEOPLE, either because they think so or their Mom/Dad think it's right, put everything under the sun on their medical report. Every sprain, twist, cut, cold, sniffle, etc... If you do that, you are opening a can of worms. The reason the eczema in this post caught my attention, was because some people exaggerate their situation; or they don't know a better term for what happened to them, and they misrepresent the seriousness. (Not saying the original poster is doing this. DON'T READ INTO THIS). I had an individual a couple of years back who wrote down a skin condition they had. Some sort of allergic reaction. So it was written down as an allergy and other conditions. They initially were coded as medically disqualified. It took a lot of back and forth with his family doctor and the academy; but the result was that the individual had a case of Poison Oak. Do you think that is something that needed to be put on the medical portion of the application? Or at the very least, do you think the academy would have responded the same way if it said "Poison Oak" instead of an "Allergy or Allergic Reaction".

Point is: If it's a medical condition that is NOT ongoing; that was temporary; that is not recent; and isn't obvious; (Such as having a cancerous tumor removed); then check with your ALO and LOD so they can look into how the academy wants it reported. If at all.

Agree with this 100 percent! This should be adapted into a sticky on the DODMERB forum.
 
Totally agree CC's post should be a sticky! Very important. And I would add to that something PIMA brought up in another thread. Don't fill out DoDMERB form with out the help of your parents. Something you may remember as a concussion might have actually just been a bump on the head, what you thought was asthma may have just been a chest cold (my youngest son swears he had asthma when he was a little, because he remembers us putting a humidifier in his room when he had croop!) This is not something candidates should try to fill out alone!
 
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