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General Medical Questions [Merged]

simzara said:
Is the medical test for reservist different from the Reg force? At the medical they checked my joints but there was no blood test, urine test, no questions on family history and they didn't do a prostate exam or asked me to take my clothes off to check for any unusual marks or somethings.

They don’t do a urine test, blood test, anything internal, or any exams without clothing for either.
 
BeyondTheNow said:
They don’t do a urine test, blood test, anything internal, or any exams without clothing for either.

Thank you for the reply. I was expecting all of that examination. In my birth country they do all of that, in a lot of cases you spend a few days in an army hospital where they do almost every test imaginable.
 
simzara said:
Thank you for the reply. I was expecting all of that examination. In my birth country they do all of that, in a lot of cases you spend a few days in an army hospital where they do almost every test imaginable.

Ah. How old were you when you came to Canada?
 
simzara said:
I turned 5 on the day we landed.

Ah okay. The reason I ask is because of one of your previous posts.

simzara said:
What kind of security clearance is required for ACISS and how long does it take? I have not lived out of Canada, don't have relatives out, and have not done anything wrong but the thought of it makes me nervous.

This is a bit of a discrepancy, or did you intend to mean you haven’t lived out of Canada since arriving? What I’m getting at is that if that error was made on application, it would definitely slow things down wrt clearance duration, possibly other issues also.
 
BeyondTheNow said:
Ah okay. The reason I ask is because of one of your previous posts.

This is a bit of a discrepancy...

The recruiter said that in regards to security clearance the lived outside of Canada only counts if you've lived after you turned 16 for 6 or more months. We have not lived outside or traveled for long after coming to Canada. I was born in India, and this is why I was concerned about security clearance
 
simzara said:
The recruiter said that in regards to security clearance the lived outside of Canada only counts if you've lived after you turned 16 for 6 or more months. We have not lived outside or traveled for long after coming to Canada. I was born in India, and this is why I was concerned about security clearance

Okay, that’s good. Now that you’ve  explained, I recall that as well. I’m not a Recruiter, and your posts jumped out at me if you were hoping for something quickly in terms of the usual clearance wait times. Thanks for the reminder.
 
BeyondTheNow said:
Okay, that’s good. Now that you’ve  explained, I recall that as well. I’m not a Recruiter, and your posts jumped out at me if you were hoping for something quickly in terms of the usual clearance wait times. Thanks for the reminder.

No problem. My post was a bit confusing, I should have been a bit more clear on that. In regards to the medical, I've heard stories of people having a psychological interview, and career interview with high ranking officers in addition to the medical. It's something similar to an RCMP medical. How come the process does not exist in Canada? The bad thing is that you cannot apply past the age of 21 or 22 for soldier and I think 25-28 for occupations that require a Masters(not including doctor)
 
simzara said:
Thank you for the reply. I was expecting all of that examination. In my birth country they do all of that, in a lot of cases you spend a few days in an army hospital where they do almost every test imaginable.

Medical standards (and medical examinations) are the same for both Regular and Reserve members; applicants also have to meet the same standards.  The easiest way to explain why there is "seemingly" few medical tests (or the insertion of digits into body cavities) is to quote from CFP 154, "The CAF conducts individualized, risk-related periodic health assessments (PHAs) . . .".  Things have changed a lot in the fast approaching half century since I first had an enrolment medical or even in the 35 years since I was involved in conducting recruits medicals.  At one time a standard panel of blood and urine tests were done for everyone and x-rays were more common, though prostate (or other intimate internal) examinations were never a part of an enrolment medical.  All those tests cost money and, eventually, the usefulness of their results was determined to be marginal.

I wasn't able to find any studies on the CAF experience in the few minutes I took to respond but I did find this 1987 article from the Journal of the RAMC in which a civilian physician who conducted recruit medicals related the experience of his ACIO.  While the numbers included in his study are small, the following list of conditions that disqualified applicants from enrolment seems re-markedly similar to what I remember being the common reasons for not passing.

(in descending order)

1. Systolic Hypertension
2. Systolic Heart Murmurs
3. Orthopaedic/foot problems
4. Skin Disorders
5. Asthma/Hay Fever/Perennial Rhinitis
6. Obesity
7. Underweight
8. Ear Defects/Deafness
9. Eyesight / Epilepsy / Enuresis / Proteinura / Emotional Stability / Migraine

With the exception of only one condition (proteinura) none of the above would be discovered by a laboratory test.  All the rest would have been discovered from a medical questionnaire and a properly conducted history taking and physical examination.
 
paleomedic said:
It’s more a question of whether the daily medication makes you unfit for service. If you don’t take the medication, will your life be in danger? Will someone else’s? That will have to be assessed by the recruiting medical officer for a decision.
I can't even tell I'm on the medication. If I went off it .... my bloodwork numbers might change slightly? But I certainly wouldn't cease to perform, let alone die, be a risk to myself, etc. There have been stretches of a day to a few days where I forgot to take it and/or took it  incorrectly (you can't take it with dairy or calcium, don't know why but I forget this fact sometimes and wash the pill down with a Tim's double double) and absolutely nothing happens. As you say, the medical officer will have to assess all this but I was just curious if it was an automatic out. Sounds like that isn't necessarily the case. I remain hopeful.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 
But of a long shot, perhaps, but wondering if anyone has any idea what the CURRENT wait time is on Medical Officers in Ottawa reviewing your file for medical suitability to serve?

My file had to go to Ottawa for this because I'm "over 40" (I turned 40 two weeks after my medical) but am otherwise healthy. I'm actually in better physical fitness than I was when I first joined in 1998.

My file manager could only tell me that they're really backlogged but had no idea what timeframe I'm looking at beyond a vague "months". Anyone know if we're talking 2-3 months or do I need to gird my loins for waiting a year and more?

EDIT: Spoke to my file manager again. I'm going to put her answer here for anyone interested/waiting for the same thing. She said it's about six months. So I've got a while to wait. I did my medical on 16 January and had the test results they wanted from my own physician a month later so we're looking at late June I am hoping to have an answer. Not getting my hopes up thought given the low priority CIC applications receive. I'm considering 6 months as more of a soonest rather than latest in my case. I suspect that Reg Force and PRes would be more in the 3-6 month timeframe currently.
 
Good day everyone!

I am hoping someone knowledgeable in the medical requirements of the CAF may be able to help me out. I've tried contacting my local recruitment center a few times over the last couple of months as I'm interested in applying for a position, but have had no reply. I have a medical question before applying. A little over a year ago I mildly herniated a disc in my lower back which I received treatment for and took some time off of work to fully recover. I am no longer effected by it and wonder if an injury such as this is a disqualification? Hoping for some clarification before applying.

Thank you in advance for your time!
 
Even the recruiting center cannot tell you for sure. You have to apply and let the Medical Officer make that determination. Best you can do is be completely honest in that recruiting medical and let the chips fall where they may.
 
How long does it take for an RC to send additional documents from a doctor to Ottawa for review?

I read anywhere up to 3 months but I'm just asking again in case things have changed in the last year or so.

Thanks
 
Phwaker said:
How long does it take for an RC to send additional documents from a doctor to Ottawa for review?

I read anywhere up to 3 months but I'm just asking again in case things have changed in the last year or so.

Thanks

Not sure how long it takes for the Recruiting Centre to send the documents, but it took just over 3 months total for the documents to be sent, for the medical staff in Ottawa to review, and for a decision to be rendered -- but this also takes into account COVID lockdowns which happened very shortly after I submitted my documents and that surely slowed things up a bit. Plus my application is for CIC which is lowest priority, also no doubt slowing things down.

16 January 2020 I did my medical at CFRC Hamilton.
21 January 2020 - Submitted my supplementary medical info from my family physician (ECG results and letter from my doctor)
8 May 2020 received clearance from Ottawa.
 
LittleBlackDevil said:
Not sure how long it takes for the Recruiting Centre to send the documents, but it took just over 3 months total for the documents to be sent, for the medical staff in Ottawa to review, and for a decision to be rendered -- but this also takes into account COVID lockdowns which happened very shortly after I submitted my documents and that surely slowed things up a bit. Plus my application is for CIC which is lowest priority, also no doubt slowing things down.

16 January 2020 I did my medical at CFRC Hamilton.
21 January 2020 - Submitted my supplementary medical info from my family physician (ECG results and letter from my doctor)
8 May 2020 received clearance from Ottawa.

Thank you for the reply! I guess I should prepare for the longest possible period which should be around when you received your medical approval. I've signed up for Signals Officer, Communications Electronics Engineering Officer, and Naval Combat Systems Officer - all Regular Force. Do you think this would put me in a "higher" priority category? Also, was the supplementary medical info requested during your Medical Exam or is there a possibility that they contact me for more documents?

Sorry for asking a lot of questions but I'm quite eager to find out my results and continue to the competition list/selection phase of my application!

Phwaker
 
Phwaker said:
Thank you for the reply! I guess I should prepare for the longest possible period which should be around when you received your medical approval. I've signed up for Signals Officer, Communications Electronics Engineering Officer, and Naval Combat Systems Officer - all Regular Force. Do you think this would put me in a "higher" priority category? Also, was the supplementary medical info requested during your Medical Exam or is there a possibility that they contact me for more documents?

Sorry for asking a lot of questions but I'm quite eager to find out my results and continue to the competition list/selection phase of my application!

Phwaker

My understanding (just from what I've been told -- I'm not a recruiter), is that priority goes Reg Force --> Reserves --> CIC ... I don't know if combat arms is given more priority than non-combat, but regardless of trade, as an applicant for RegF I'd expect your file to be given more priority than Reserves (all trades) and CIC. Since I'm in the lowest priority bracket, I would think that the timelines I encountered would be the longest you'd reasonably expect.

In my case, the supplementary medical info was requested during my medical exam at the recruiting centre. The reason for the need for additional info was because (1) my 40th birthday was two weeks after my medical and therefore I would be "over 40" by the time of enrolment, therefore they needed extra tests to ensure I'd be sufficiently healthy to work in the army; and (2) I disclosed during my medical that I have hypothyroidism and am prescribed medication for that, so they wanted a report from my medical doctor with specifics about that and his medical opinion on my ability to handle the strenuous activity of a CF member.
 
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