HPSP Physical for the Navy, and other armed forces

[Reefboss]

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Can anyone tell me exactly what goes on during these phsysicals? what exactly do the doctors ask you to perform, and what kind of questions do they ask you? What should i expect going in?

 

[KenKim]

Can anyone tell me exactly what goes on during these phsysicals? what exactly do the doctors ask you to perform, and what kind of questions do they ask you? What should i expect going in?

pee in cup front of someone. check your eye. do some hearing testing in a weird room. check your blood pressure. take your blood. do finger prints. take your clothes off and do series of physical activities that test your balance and fitness such as kick your right foot while standing for a long time on your left foot, doing duck walk just with your heels and doing duck walk again with your toes (surprisingly most people are not fit) also they check your rectum by bending over touch your balls and cough and check your nails check your vitals. oh and if you had any kinda of surgery done, its a dirty pre-screening. which means you will most likely fail the physical

 

[KenKim]

Can anyone tell me exactly what goes on during these phsysicals? what exactly do the doctors ask you to perform, and what kind of questions do they ask you? What should i expect going in?

oh and if you're just about to get your physical done, you are very late with applying for the scholarship. which means there arnt very many shcolarships left. your best bet is forget the navy and do army that has more scholarships available

 

[NOLAdentist2016]

The physical process can suck and take forever. I've been in limbo waiting to go for over 4 months, because the pre-screening process can be ridiculous if you've ever had any medical problem other than basically a hang-nail. They're pretty strict about everything and hold us to the same standards as 18 year old high school kids who are enlisting to be infantry.

 

[white fang]

I am applying for the scholarship this upcoming cycle. I broke my ankle and have permanent screws in it about 10 years ago, it has not created a problem since. I also will be on the upper end of the acceptable weight. Is there something I can do before the physical, such as clearances from my physician, that will expedite the process?

 

[NOLAdentist2016]

-Gather ALL of your medical records.
-Look up "disqualifying conditions for the military" online.
-If you have disqualifying conditions, you will either need more documentation, letters from your physicians and/or a waiver from the surgeon general. All of this has to happen before MEPS will let you come.
-Start talking to your recruiter. From my experience, they won't really let you get started with anything yet, because they're still working with the apps for the current cycle. But, try to find out how early you can start doing your medical stuff. As I said, I've been waiting for 4-5 months now. It's a really sucky reason to lose a scholarship.
-Lastly, Take your DAT if you haven't. They will probably want all of your dental school app stuff completed before they talk to you. They don't want to waste their time if they don't think you're actually qualified.

 

[woof44]

A small side note for all of this - remember that you have to give a urine sample. I used the bathroom at breakfast forgetting about this (I think it was 4:30 a.m. so I was not on my thinking game), and then when I couldn't go later. They told me I'd have to come back the next day if I didn't go in the next 5 minutes. Thank goodness I did haha, but just remember that. Good luck. MEPS is not that fun. But definitely an experience.

 

[white fang]

-Gather ALL of your medical records.
-Look up "disqualifying conditions for the military" online.
-If you have disqualifying conditions, you will either need more documentation, letters from your physicians and/or a waiver from the surgeon general. All of this has to happen before MEPS will let you come.
-Start talking to your recruiter. From my experience, they won't really let you get started with anything yet, because they're still working with the apps for the current cycle. But, try to find out how early you can start doing your medical stuff. As I said, I've been waiting for 4-5 months now. It's a really sucky reason to lose a scholarship.
-Lastly, Take your DAT if you haven't. They will probably want all of your dental school app stuff completed before they talk to you. They don't want to waste their time if they don't think you're actually qualified.

Thank you for the advice, I talked to a recruiter and he gave me a little guidance but more or less asked me to contact him again in June. I am done with my DAT at least, so that won't be a hindrance. I found under disqualifying medical conditions:

(2) Orthopedic hardware, including plates, pins, rods, wires, or screws used for fixation and left in place; except that a pin, wire, or screw not subject to easy trauma is not disqualifying.


I guess I have to find out what being subject to easy trauma is defined as. My screws are on the lower part of my fibula, never had any problems with them.

 

[McKnightRider]

The physical process can suck and take forever. I've been in limbo waiting to go for over 4 months, because the pre-screening process can be ridiculous if you've ever had any medical problem other than basically a hang-nail. They're pretty strict about everything and hold us to the same standards as 18 year old high school kids who are enlisting to be infantry.

This doesn't seem right

 

[NOLAdentist2016]

This doesn't seem right

Yes, I agree, but unfortunately it is.

As long as your past medical history is fairly clean and nothing falls into the category of "disqualifiying medical conditions", then you should move along quicker.

But beware, there are A LOT of conditions on this list, including a lot of things you wouldnt even expect! (Inhaler use, scoliosis, flat feet, orthopedic surgery, corrective vision surgery, for example). There are multiple steps involved to get waivers and EACH step takes over a month.

 

[HeyCharlie]

A past surgery won't necessarily disqualify you. You'll more than likely need a letter from a physician stating that the surgery was successful with no issues post-surgery. Most people don't even mention any minor surgeries to avoid the hassle.

Most important thing: don't drink any caffeine for a few days leading up to the physical. I went to MEPS during my DAT prep when I was drinking about 3 cups of coffee a day. My blood pressure was sky high and I was initially disqualified. After explaining my case, they allowed me to get another BP reading from a personal physician and a letter with the results was enough to satisfy approval of my physical. However, this extra approval process didn't get complete until late November (even though I did the MEPS in June). So do the physical early as possible in case if you run into issues like me.

When I did the urine sample, there was no one watching me pee lol. And I didn't have to stand and do karate kicks as mentioned in an earlier post. I guess it varies by the doctor. In fact, my doctor that day was a female and she didn't bother to grab my balls and have me cough as well as not performing the prostate exam. Thus, these parts of the physical were missing so I had to come back a few months later to have another doctor examine me.