Checklist: Medical Qualifications

DoDMETS

This is the third of the USNA Qualifications checklist. We covered physical, scholastic and now we’re to the third basic requirement listed by the Naval Academy Admissions Board: Medical. If you satisfy these three areas, you have surpassed 70% of other applicants.

Medical is probably the most stressful of the three because there’s not a lot you can do if you’re color blind, have arthritis or any number of other medical areas that summarily disqualify you. After you receive your official Candidate number (your junior year after you submit the application), you will be invited by DoDMETS to take a Free Government-paid-for physical exam. DodMETS is the medical exam tracking system operated by Concorde, Inc. to assist Department of Defense Applicants in scheduling and completing their medical requirements for DoDMETS (from their website). If you’re obsessive like I am, click that link and visit the forums where current applicants discuss their medical issues. One family friend had to get his wisdom teeth pulled the weekend before his test. Another sprained his neck in a varsity wrestling tournament, failed the medical exam (they didn’t care about the reason, only that he couldn’t complete the exam requirements. Welcome to the Navy) and had to reapply the next year (and was accepted.)

Here’s a hint: Get the Medical Qualification out of the way as early as possible, in case there is a problem. If you need a waiver, you’ll have plenty of time to get it before the application deadline. My friend’s son–the wrestling guy above–went through the exam late in the process. He could have tested again after his wrestling injury had healed, but he hadn’t left enough time in his schedule for that contingency.

The Medical Exam package includes a four-page questionnaire covering general applicant data, detailed medical history, and blocks to be completed by the examining doctor. The process involves vision and hearing tests, psychological questions, and a general medical physical.

Now that you’re briefed on these three, lets get back to basics.

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Jacqui Murray wrote the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a tech columnist for Examiner.com, Editorial Review Board member for ISTE’s Journal for Computing Teachers, Cisco guest blogger, and an IMS tech expert. Currently, she’s editing a military thriller for her agent that should be out to publishers this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office, WordDreams, or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.