Preview/Practice DoDMERB Exam

Padre101

Padre101

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Please forgive me if this has been asked before. I tried searching and could not find the answer. Question: Is it possible to pay a private doctor to undergo the same kinds of testing and examination that a candidate would go through in an actual DoDMERB as sort of a practice run. I am reading so many postings of candidates finding conditions that they never knew they had and getting DQed when they undergo their official DoDMERB, so I wonder if it possible or if you heard of other people going through a preview exam to detect these unknown conditions. I see in the forums lots of advice about getting a candidate for their MOC interview by going through mock interviews or preparing for their CFA by practicing the CFA events. Just was curious if you can do a DoDMERB dry-run. I understand that something like this would come out of my own pocket, but it may be worth it.
 
A physical with a very thorough eye exam and audio exam is about all you can do. More than anything a lot of the issues come from vision and past diagnosis such as asthma or past surgery. If you are healthy the physical is usually very quick.
 
You can look through the DQ codes on the DoDMERB site to see what *might* be an issue - consider if you have had any of those things after age 12/13. But remember that many DQs are waiverable. And note - some physicals are quick. Ds's was 15 minutes or so.
 
MammaMia said:
You can look through the DQ codes on the DoDMERB site to see what *might* be an issue - consider if you have had any of those things after age 12/13. But remember that many DQs are waiverable. And note - some physicals are quick. Ds's was 15 minutes or so.
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Was your DS's physical performed at a MEPS center or through a contracted civilian doctor?
 
Contracted civilian doctor. He had a remedial that was quickly taken care of. Got an appointment in December, got injured, got appt taken away pending waiver, which was granted in April. Cutting it close!
 
MammaMia said:
Contracted civilian doctor. He had a remedial that was quickly taken care of. Got an appointment in December, got injured, got appt taken away pending waiver, which was granted in April. Cutting it close!
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Thanks for the info. Looked at the codes. How can all that be examined in 15 mins or was most of that info covered in a questionnaire beforehand??
 
Padre101 said:
MammaMia said:
Contracted civilian doctor. He had a remedial that was quickly taken care of. Got an appointment in December, got injured, got appt taken away pending waiver, which was granted in April. Cutting it close!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Looked at the codes. How can all that be examined in 15 mins or was most of that info covered in a questionnaire beforehand??
Click to expand...
Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I gathered while going through my DDs DODMERB exam, most of the disqualifying conditions are from past medical history, things like broken bones, shoulder dislocations, surgery with complications, any disease like asthma, eczema to name a few, etc. There are just too many to mention. My DDs exam took all of 15 minutes and done, qualified, but she had no sinificant past medical history. Yes, some posters have had some incidental findings perhaps, like blood or sugar in the urine and I'm sure, some others, but it's the history that gets you.

I don't see how going through a "mock" physical would do any good. If they find anything on that physical, well then your DS would then have a history, so you'd have to report it anyway. My advice is to be honest but succinct when filling out the history, and just get the exam done once, then go from there. There are some other threads concerning the subject of filling out the history. A search might be helpful. Good luck.
 
Yes most of the DQs I would say come from past diagnosis/injuries or from the eye exam. If you have any of these the what thing you can do is start to gather paperwork for those diagnosis. Make sure you have dates and doctors names.
 
I don't think there's a need for a practice exam, but I would be sure vision is corrected to 20/20 (or is 20/20) going into the eye exam. We got lucky and son had 20/20 at dodmerb exam, but if I was to do it again, I wouldn't leave that to chance.
 
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FalconsRock said:
Padre101 said:
MammaMia said:
Contracted civilian doctor. He had a remedial that was quickly taken care of. Got an appointment in December, got injured, got appt taken away pending waiver, which was granted in April. Cutting it close!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Looked at the codes. How can all that be examined in 15 mins or was most of that info covered in a questionnaire beforehand??
Click to expand...
Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I gathered while going through my DDs DODMERB exam, most of the disqualifying conditions are from past medical history, things like broken bones, shoulder dislocations, surgery with complications, any disease like asthma, eczema to name a few, etc. There are just too many to mention. My DDs exam took all of 15 minutes and done, qualified, but she had no sinificant past medical history. Yes, some posters have had some incidental findings perhaps, like blood or sugar in the urine and I'm sure, some others, but it's the history that gets you.

I don't see how going through a "mock" physical would do any good. If they find anything on that physical, well then your DS would then have a history, so you'd have to report it anyway. My advice is to be honest but succinct when filling out the history, and just get the exam done once, then go from there. There are some other threads concerning the subject of filling out the history. A search might be helpful. Good luck.
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Excellent point. Roger that.
 
Yes - you fill out a lengthy questionnaire ahead of time and they review the answers to that. Some answers re past history can trigger remedially or DQs. In DS's case, it was a past history of a broken bone corrected with surgery. His DQ was also a broken bone corrected by surgery - same bone, other side of the body. (bad luck!)
 
Padre101 said:
I am reading so many postings of candidates finding conditions that they never knew they had and getting DQed when they undergo their official DoDMERB
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OP: I am not sure your observation is correct. More often than not, candidates are DQ'd by some condition found in their past that was long forgotten, completely healed, or of no consequence. It would be better to familiarize yourself with the health history form and begin gathering background paperwork, reports, contact information for doctors, etc on conditions that are a DQ probability. Broken bones, asthma, allergies, operations, acne medicine, joint injuries, etc. Time spent to prepare to answer these situations (if a DQ is determined) will be well spent.

A pre-DODMERB physical isn't really going to help you. You will still have to go through the DODMERB anyway.
 
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