How fair is the appeals process?

Destroid

Member
Registered Member
Hi All,

First of all, kudos to Mr. Perry and the rest of the members here for making this such an informative/useful message board for people in the armed forces. I am in the process of getting my commission in the USPHS and have hit a roadblock in the medical evaluations process. I was disqualified for being over my weight limit, and for failing the hearing test. I chose to appeal the disqualification and used the time to address all my issues. My hearing re-test showed that I am actually compliant with PHS hearing thresholds, and I lost a LOT of weight. So, long story short - I have successfully remedied the disqualifying conditions and sent Medical Affairs all the relevant documentation indicating that I am medically qualified to serve in the PHS. My questions are - Does the board actually go over the documentation you submit, or is it a dog and pony show? If I have rectified all the issues that disqualified me in the first place, do I even have a shot at having my disqualification overturned? Also, does medical affairs usually do a good job of advocating for the appellant, or should I be worried? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Destroid
 
Sorry to hear of your problems....please understand that as a threshold matter, the data set is really small. So, while I will share a "horror story" I have heard, I don't think it is very helpful or even an accurate basis to extrapolate anything from.

Bottom line, I don't think you should take much from any of this. If you are in compliance now with USPHS standards, you "should" be fine.

I have, in the last year, been contacted by an active duty member of another branch who was applying for a USPHS commission. This member was an O5. From what I understood, the member was in complete compliance with all standards, had recently been promoted, and had good "paper"/evaluations. However, the reviewing officer rejected the application because of something that was wholly irrelevant in the members file. I really can't/won't go into more details, just stating that I have heard of at least one case where the review was "bogus." That said, I again stress that is only one case that I have heard of and I am sure that many folks have no problems at all.

Some things I would point out as likely bearing on the issue is your specialty/credentials, needs of the USPHS, and perhaps recommendations.

I hope it works out well for you and you are ultimately commissioned. Best of luck!
 
Hi All,

First of all, kudos to Mr. Perry and the rest of the members here for making this such an informative/useful message board for people in the armed forces. I am in the process of getting my commission in the USPHS and have hit a roadblock in the medical evaluations process. I was disqualified for being over my weight limit, and for failing the hearing test. I chose to appeal the disqualification and used the time to address all my issues. My hearing re-test showed that I am actually compliant with PHS hearing thresholds, and I lost a LOT of weight. So, long story short - I have successfully remedied the disqualifying conditions and sent Medical Affairs all the relevant documentation indicating that I am medically qualified to serve in the PHS. My questions are - Does the board actually go over the documentation you submit, or is it a dog and pony show? If I have rectified all the issues that disqualified me in the first place, do I even have a shot at having my disqualification overturned? Also, does medical affairs usually do a good job of advocating for the appellant, or should I be worried? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Destroid

No Pun intended, you should be worried.
 
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