Forms, Charts, and Needles
By Harmony | April 1, 2008 | 5:01 pm
I’m in the Medical Review portion of the Peace Corps process. I received a packet of forms which needs to be filled out by my doctors. The unfortunate thing is that with Kaiser, I have not one but many doctors, and therefore, I have to make appointments with each to take care of different parts of the form.
Today, I went in to get my vaccinations and blood and urine tests. I got it all - Tests for HIV, TB, Hep B & C, G6PD, CBC… the list goes on and on. I also got a MMR vaccination and a Polio booster - requirements for PC service. I got a Tetanus shot in January, so that was already covered. All in all, I received 4 needles in the arm today and had 6 viles of blood drawn.
While going through my computer records with the P.A. today, I noticed a diagnosis that could potentially disqualify me from service. I had no idea it was on my record - it wasn’t even correct! She wouldn’t remove it since she didn’t diagnose me (again, I have numerous doctors). When I got back to the office today, I sent a message to the doctor that entered the diagnosis. Within an hour, she replied, informing me that she removed it from my record, and good luck with the Peace Corps. Whew! Potential disaster thwarted!
On one of these forms, I need to list all my childhood vaccinations. I know I have an old immunization card at home, but it isn’t complete. I called Antioch Kaiser (where I was treated as a child), and they had me fill out and fax them an authorization form. They need to pull my records from storage, but I should hopefully get a copy of my records in the mail within a week.
I didn’t have enough time in my appointment today to complete everything that the Peace Corps requires, so I’m going back next week to finish. By then, the blood tests should be in. I have 3 other medical appointments scheduled in the meantime. I figure that by the time I’m done with it all, I’ll have a complete and updated medical history. So, if I don’t end up qualifying, at least I’ll have that.
Topics: Application, Nomination, and Invitation |