My 1st military physical

hopeful_army_NP · Aug 28, 2009

I did my physical with the tour at BAMC/Fort Sam Houston so it is different. My physcial was split into 2 days because of timing and the way the tour was set up. It consisted of vitals, ht, wt, labs, urine, hearing, vision test and a physical exam. The PE included lots of ROM and then regular physical. You should wear comfortable/relaxed clothing. If you are going to MEPS I believe it is not as relaxed though. Hopefully someone who went to MEPS will respond soon. Best wishes!

allnurses Guide · Aug 28, 2009

Processing my Army Nurse Corps reserve application right now and go for my physical next week. Just wanting to know...
1. How long does the physical take (hours)? I know it starts at 06:45...
2. What should I wear to go to the physical?
3. What is involved with the initial military physical?

1. Plan on being there at least 4-6hrs.

2. Wear closed toe shoes (usually a requirement at most MEPS stations) and underwear that is comfortable and you don't mind being in front of room full of other women walking like a duck in.

3. Urine/blood test, EKG for officer canidates, eye exam, ortho exam, VS, HT/WT, review of your medical hx, and the famous "peek a boo" test for females to make sure you aren't really a guy. I think that is about it for officer canidates.

hopeful_army_NP · Aug 28, 2009

My exam was very different, I am soooo glad I did it with the tour.

Realnut is it an option for you to go to San Antonio an do the physical and tour?

RealNut · Aug 28, 2009

Thanks everyone for your info and advise!! So appreciated!! I live in Stafford, VA so my physical is going to be in Richmond at Ft. Lee. There is no medical center at Ft. Lee to my knowledge, so I don't know if there is going to be a tour or anything involved. Guess I gotta check with my recruiter. What's involved with "the tour?"

DMURSE1 · Aug 28, 2009

peek a boo

Ha Ha LOL

NurseFreshMeat · Aug 28, 2009

I did my exam at Fort Lee at the clinic. It is a two day exam that was completed with other AD soldiers. You will have paperwork to fill, lab work drawn, then what I like to call a seek and find. You have your vision, hearing, and EKG completed. Schedule for part II of the physical. Part II you meet with a provider, go over lab results, the check sheet from part one and a physical assessment. It would be helpful if you have already had a PAP in the last year other wise it would be an additional day.

I am prior service and have through MEPS before. This exam was not as humiliating at all.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Aug 28, 2009

Wear comfy clothes that you can take on and off easily - but dress decently. Pull on knit pants and a nice pullover shirt would be appropriate - don't go in there in a graphic tee and slouchy jeans.

mobro · Aug 29, 2009

is the AF physical really that humiliating?? i am supposed to go this thursday and am pretty nervous about it!!

allnurses Guide · Aug 29, 2009

is the AF physical really that humiliating?? i am supposed to go this thursday and am pretty nervous about it!!

If you are going to the MEPS station then every branch has pretty much the same physical there. It is only embarassing if you let it be. There are just a lot of things that the MEPS staff are required to check for by military regs so I would consider the process more fast and fairly efficient than embarassing.

I wouldn't worry about it. MEPS is usually pretty much the easiest part of your application as long as all your paperwork is order.

athena55, BSN, RN · Aug 29, 2009

I would also suggest you remove any "hardware" i.e., nipple or belly rings before hand.

When I went through MEPS we females weren't allowed to wear "sports bras" we had to wear what I like to call a Madonna-type bra ....REAL pointy!

Have fun

athena

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Aug 29, 2009

is the AF physical really that humiliating?? i am supposed to go this thursday and am pretty nervous about it!!

It's not that it's humiliating (and I've done it twice!), it's just that you have to strip down to your bra and panties (along with the other females in the room) so there's no need to wear stuff hard to manage. Also, I personally believe that your appearance goes a long way toward how you're treated - if you don't dress like a slob, you give a better impression.

MEPS folks are notoriously unfriendly as it is.

Some people said they received preferential/different treatment as officer candidates - I actually feel I was treated worse than I was when I was enlisted. Some Army E2 (not that there's anything wrong with being an E2 - she had a major attitude problem so this is just me being really PO'd) announced I was four pounds overweight in front of the other eleven women in the room (and to add to it, we were all in our underwear) and I'm not - I'm NINE POUNDS UNDER. (WHAT???) Nice.

She did apologize to me and said she "misread the scale". Really?

And the civilian PA I talked to had a serious problem with me. I walked in for the private interview, very polite, spoke to her with the greeting of the day, very professional, and all she did was scowl and snap at me. Then after she wound me up over every little thing on my medical paperwork (and there was nothing there, thank you), she proceeded to tell me I had clinically high blood pressure - it was 117/60!!! I bit my tongue but I'll tell you, it wasn't easy....

(I'm surprised, actually, that it WASN'T clinically high, because at that point I was fuming.)

I have no idea what I did when I walked into that portion of the physical, but I'm inclined to believe it had to do with my being an officer candidate. I had no other problems anywhere else - just with that PA and the Army girl. I was the only OTS candidate there that day, and I'm sorry to say I think that had something to do with it.

There's nothing humiliating - it's just a pain in the backside and, I think, weird. It's just a weird experience, there's no frame of reference for it. I always feel a bit out of touch when I'm at MEPS just because the whole experience is, well, odd. To me, anyway.