There have been a lot of confessions lately about how terrified or worried posters are to have their med/dental exams for PCS clearance. Basically the OPs are making it much worse than it ever was for us, so I'm curious what everyone else has dealt with.

We go in, sit with the docs around the table, they look at the med records. Ask a few questions, have a bit of a chat, we're cleared to PCS. Has anyone ever been subjected to an actual PHYSICAL? I know the dental stuff is they have to check your teeth for foreseeable emergency problems, but I've never had an actual doctor check to get clearance.

I wonder if some are seeing "physical" and worrying about the worst it could be, not understanding it's just a paperwork sign off.

I know Mental Health was fun when he was in Korea and we were prepping for Germany. She was talking about what the paperwork was and I said "So you wanna know if I'm crazy?" That made her startle a bit, then she smiled and giggled and asked me "So are you crazy?". My reply was "I think we all are to one degree or another, or we'd have never made it this far in life.". I was cleared to PCS, no problems. I just thought that I might as well make it as enjoyable as possible and not sweat it.

Exactly what I thought! When we were trying to go to Germany, I had to drive my newborn 3 1/2 hours to Offutt AFB in Omaha, NE because we were told it HAD to be done at an MTF and that is by far the closest one (not a lot of military in Iowa!). To even get an appointment I called for about 2 months, and the OIC was on leave, and then was "busy with predeployment briefings." The voicemail-box was full, so I couldn't even leave a message.

Anyway, we drove the 3 1/2 hours, and sat in the waiting room for almost an hour past our appointment time. I was expecting to have a physical, possibly a blood test or urine test (for whatever reason), and God knows what else. All they did was ask me every question on the paperwork, and sign and date it at the bottom- they didn't even look at the medical records I was told to bring. The whole thing took like 10 minutes. No physical, no examination of any kind. It was so ridiculous. I really think that (especially with babies) they just need to make sure you actually exist and that the sponsor isn't trying to get extra COLA or something!

It may have been like that for us since our sponsor (my husband) was already here in Germany and we didn't have PCS orders. We haven't gone through a PCS together yet, so we'll see how that one goes...

I came over here at the same time as Tim, and I didn't even know I needed a physical til I went up for his AIT graduation. I actually missed the first half of his graduation ceremony getting a physical, but it was really simple. Listened to my heart, checked my weight, etc. But it could be different for me because I have asthma. I've never PCSed with a baby, so we'll see how that goes.

When we did it for Japan it was more frustrating to get the docs office to even give me an appointment (the family medicine here was horrid back then for that) but the rest was pretty simple. My packet was denied but for an understandable reason (I had just had a blood transfusion and my risk for another was to high at the time, Oki is limited on my rare blood type). Only issue with that process I had was how long it took for them to come back and say I couldnt go. We submitted our paperwork 3 months before we were to leave and 10 days before we got on the plane they tell us that I cant go, yea that was "fun".

Since weve already been through that part we arent to worried about doing it again. When this command time is up we are putting in for MSG and will need to do it all over again.

The only difficult part for us was getting me an appointment in the scrunched time frame we had. Once I had the appointment, I think the medical was just sitting with a doctor answering health questions. They didn't look over old records (although my sister-in-law who just married a Seaman had to take her records to her screening to go to Japan), and just asked if I had any conditions or medications. The dental, they looked at my teeth and took x-rays. I needed a root canal, so they had to double check that this base could handle that. They got the OK from the dentist here and they signed my form. It was very simple.

We got married after my hubby left Hawaii and went to Japan. My family doctor in Williamsburg wrote that I needed to be treated for depression so I couldn't get on the orders. My hubby paid my way over and once we were in Japan , I saw the Psychiatrist who cleared me and I was added to the orders and we got re-imbursed for travel expenses. It was a big pain in that ass. I had not seen my family doctor in 2 years and she was the only one I had.

I had to go have a simple physical and a current pap. They also had me go to my dentist and she had to fill out paperwork confirming that I didn't need any work done. In reality, it was just time consuming.

The language barrier is a big negative for me. I am doing my best with the German, and try to use it whenever I can. Medical issues often require the most obscure words, though, and its hard in emergency situations to concentrate on a new language. I also don't like when the doctors talk to each other in German when you're sitting there, and you don't know what they're saying. (Disclaimer- obviously, they're going to speak German, its how they best communicate with each other. It just sucks because they're talking about your immediate situation and you can't understand them)

I don't even think the doctor glanced at my medical records......which, by the way, 9 months later, still have yet to make it to Guam, since they wouldn't let me bring them with me even though I was 7.5 months pregnant.

When I got here they said that I shouldn't have been allowed to PCS that far along. Oh well.

Ooops.... I grabbed the wrong quote... I was referring to the post about the language barrier.

That was our big problem. Even though I am familiar with the medical system and work in the field for years, we could not find out patient liaison. We were told in our briefing that the nurses at this hospital and the staff spoke English and had a long history of working with Americans. However, that was wrong or at least they acted as though they did not understand nor speak English. I won't even go into the disgusting conditions of the hospital / rooms (meaning blood, dirt and vomit caking on the floors).

I should correct what I said before.. it is NOT all of Germany at all but for me and others here, a specific area, that has many issues. One hospital in particular that treats Americans like crap and at this time, the Garrison is working on trying to makes things easier.

I went through a miscarriage and subsequent D&C last year. It is a long and ugly story but suffice it to say, after fighting the anesthesiologist about the fact that I can't have Morphine or any of the derivatives because I am allergic, I made sure I could leave the hospital as soon as I could walk after my spinal.

The positive side to this is that changes are being made and there are 2 hospitals in the area that are far different than the one I went to. The OB/GYN that I went to was horrible but there are so many better docs here.

Next time I am pregnant, I will make the drive to the better hospital.

As for the rest of Bavaria? Well, I love it.. I enjoy being here and the majority of the people that I meet.

The Command Sponsorship process can take awhile, for me it took a year but that was due to my husband deploying and the loss of my paperwork.

Now.... we are talking about extending to accomodate my job and allow us more time together in Europe before the next deployment (he is deployed now).

Pidua, are you in Garmish? Sorry, Bavaria is not my strong suit on geography.

Sorry you had a miscarriage, and I'm really sorry the hospital and staff didn't help make it any easier on you.

My husband was deployed to Iraq at the time. I went in to see the doctor who looked at my records which showed that I had been treated for depression and asthma. The doctor was really condescending about the depression treatment, which had ended three years before the screening took place. She said that it was a good thing we were going to Germany because if we were going to Hawaii, I wouldn't be approved. Apparently, there's a shortage of mental health care providers... The funny thing is, I have master's degrees in social work and public health. I could actually be a mental health care provider in Hawaii!

Anyway, she made me enroll in EFMP, telling me that my husband could be deployed while we were in Germany and that might make me depressed. I looked at her and said, "Lady, he's deployed right NOW!" And before I was married to my husband, I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in a developing country.

Luckily, EFMP didn't affect command sponsorship. We didn't hear from EFMP until we'd been here for six months. My husband got a nastygram because we hadn't checked in with them. He wrote them back and said we didn't even want to be in EFMP. We never heard from them again after that.

I know EFMP is a necessary program, especially for kids with special needs, but I hate that they force adults to enroll in it... ostensibly for their own good. I especially hate it that they penalize people for seeking help for depression. A lot of people don't get treated because they're afraid of the stigma. Denying command sponsorship to family members and forcing people to enroll in EFMP is one way to perpetuate that stigma.

By the way, we've been in Germany for almost two years and I've not had any medical issues whatsoever. So much for my depression coming back.