The Application Journey, Part 2: Medical Evaluation

I was considering writing a tutorial about what to expect from the medical review as a resource for future volunteers. The problem is that the entire process has changed. I was one of the last people to go through the former application process (quite literally one of the last--if I had turned my evaluation in just a week or two later I would have potentially had to redo much of it under the new system.) So, instead of doing a tutorial, I'll just share some of my experiences during the medical process. It should still be relatively informative for future applicants going through their reviews as well as let family and friends who are following my blog know a little bit more about what the process was like.

Medical/Dental/Eye Evaluation

The arrival of the medical evaluation packet is exciting and intimidating. The realization that you're on to the next step in a long process, one that you've probably read in some detail about on the Peace Corps website and through blogs of other volunteers who have gone through or are currently going through the same process, is quite exhilarating. Inside the envelope are several documents: the medical evaluation paper work (6-8 pages), the dental evaluation (3-4 pages), eye examination paperwork  (1-2 pages), and various other documents based on your answers to some of the questions in the initial online application.

Medical

The medical is the most extensive evaluation. It is pretty straight forward for the most part. There are several pages that the applicant can fill out on her/his own before even seeing the doctor. But it was important to look through the entire packet. I wish I would have looked at it in more detail so I would have had answers to more questions before seeing the doctor. Here's something I learned--applicants are often more knowledgeable about the Peace Corps application than the doctor. If you tell the doctor what tests need to be done they can do them, but the application isn't always clear and it's important to be your own advocate. I'll give you an example from my experience.

Part of the process of medical evaluation involves blood tests. There are several different tests to complete and most of them are clear. One that I found difficult to get information on was the "G6PD titer". When it came time to do the blood work this test even stumped the nurses at the clinic I was going to. None of them had even heard of it before. 

I tried doing some of my own research while they looked around for what that test might be. I found out a few things that might be helpful for future applicants. First, G6PD (Glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase) is a test to see how your body will react to malaria vaccination or medication or both (I can't remember exactly). Basically, the test is done to see whether or not you can go to a country where malaria is a risk. Secondly, calling the test a "titer" is a bit of a misnomer. A titer is a test for antibodies and the G6PD test is looking for levels of chemicals that are always present in blood. So it's not really a titer and that confused some of the technicians at the lab. Lastly, there are two versions of the test: qualitative and quantitative. The Peace Corps requires the quantitative test (the one that actually lists numerical quantities of the results). I spoke to three different nurses and finally they called the blood lab. The technicians at the lab knew what the test was so the clinic sent me to the lab to get all of the blood work done so I wouldn't have to get poked twice.

I arrived at the lab, put my name on the list, and waited to be called. It didn't take long to get in and out and it was actually kind of fun to joke around with the technicians. I'm sure they put up with some cranky people on a daily basis so it was nice to joke and laugh with them. They took my blood and sent me on my way. 

The results came back two or three weeks later. It took a few days to notice it, but when I looked over the results I couldn't find the G6PD titer anywhere. When I inquired about this I found out that they had accidentally left off the order for that blood test when they sent me to the lab. So I had to go back to the clinic to get the doctor's order for the blood work then go to the lab to have it done. As it turns out, the lab I was going to only did the qualitative test and I had to have the blood sent to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN (45 minutes from my hometown incidentally) to have the quantitative test done. This meant another two or three weeks of waiting. So, in order to check of a single box on the evaluation forms it took about two months. That could have been avoided if I had checked the order for blood work and compared it to the list on the evaluation form. So, be your own advocate!

Dental Evaluation and Eye Examination

I didn't have any real roadblocks with these other than the dentist's office scheduled one of my dental appointments on a day when the dentist wasn't going to be in and so had to reschedule that appointment for a month later. Other than that the dental evaluation is really basic and the dentist will definitely know what to do. Just make sure you get the correct X-rays done. One of my friends didn't have the right format and had to have them redone.

As for the eye exam, I had mine done at a Walmart and the optometrist who did my exam had actually just gotten back from Kenya where she was volunteering eye exams. We shared stories and joked around. It was a fun exam. Also, I'm 30 and still don't need glass! Each eye individually is 20/40 but together they're 20/30. Score!

Additional Paperwork

I used to smoke and during my last term at university I saw a counselor for about 10 sessions due to a series of issues I had with finding employment, finding housing, and relationship issues. Since they asked about both in the application I said that I had smoked in the past (never mind that it had been years since I had smoked) and that I had seen a counselor briefly (never mind that it was only for a few weeks a third of a decade before filling out the application) I had to get information saying that I had spoken with a doctor about the health consequences of smoking and I had to contact the counseling office I had used, fax them some paperwork, and have them fill it out and return it to the Peace Corps. Just be aware that the answers to your online application are there for a reason. Be prepared to give background information relating to what you answer. For example, I could have had the contact information for the counseling office ready or even contacted them about how I might be able to get my records.

Again, the entire process has changed so I'm not sure how helpful this will be but I imagine the advice I gave should still be of use. Other than that I hope you have a better idea about what the process looks like for applicants. Keep in mind that these are only a few snippets of the process. I started the medical evaluation process in November 2011 and submitted it at the very end of March 2012. It takes time and a lot of footwork. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions about the process!

Welcome Pictures from Samoa

The most frequent question I'm getting is about food: "What kind of food will you be eating?" Well, here's some pictures to let you (and me!) know:

Husking a coconut

Removing the meat from a coconut after husking

Typical Samoan meats

Preparing papaya

Preparing breadfruit

Typical fruits from Samoa

And here's what the markets look like:

Supermarket

Open-air market in Apia

"What will your living situation be like?" Let's have a look:

Meal with host family

What my room might look like

Or maybe more like this

Open fale (house

Western-style house

Family compound (left to right): fale (house), cooking house, bathroom/shower

Lastly, "What do the schools look like?":

My uniform for school

My project will be teaching literacy and conversation skills to primary level English students. Peace Corps Volunteers are also expected to do side projects. Here's a few photos of what that might look like:

So cool!

Some additional Samoan cultural photos:

General store/meeting place

Samoan bus

Church on Sunday: an important part of Samoan culture

I'm totally gonna learn how to do this

And some activities I'll probably be doing in my spare time:

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

The application journey

The coveted blue packet

                It's been over a year since I started the process which has led me to where I am now: two months until I leave for the country of Samoa. I thought I'd take a little time to recap my journey with the Peace Corps (PC) application process.

                My experience with the infamous PC application began over a year ago when I was looking for a graduate school program. I arrived in Spokane, WA in April 2011 after a year teaching English in South Korea where I spent a good chunk of my free time researching graduate school. I knew I wanted to do the Peace Corps Master’s International (PCMI) so the information on the website was invaluable. I was able to immediately narrow down my choices.

I finally decided on Gonzaga University for several reasons. First, I had already completed much of the application as I had had a similar experience of looking for schools after having taught English as a volunteer through Chile’s Inglés Abre Puertas program. Second, they were one of surprisingly few schools in general and especially in the northwest, where I had spent most of my adult life and wanted to return, that had a PCMI program in English teaching. And lastly, I was able to live with my aunt and uncle (Cheers Nancy and Dale!) who I could count on both hands the number of times I had seen them in my life previously. All of these together made the choice easy. But next came the process of applying to PC.

The online application doesn’t look very intimidating and, if you’ve put any thought into why you want to serve as a volunteer, it shouldn't be. Granted, it is several pages long and has several essay questions and requires references from specific areas. It’s easy to put it off as anything that is important but not urgent is. I managed to get in by early Fall 2011 after my first term at Gonzaga. If you plan on doing the PCMI program, I would encourage you to fill out your PC application as soon as you get accepted to a program. You could have it ready to go and just click the ‘submit’ button when you find out. In fact, I imagine you could even send it in beforehand. If things change as far as what program you end up in I’m sure you could change that information. The processes of applying to graduate school and to the PC are completely separate even with PCMI.

The next step was the interview prior to nomination. Mine took place in a small conference room on the first floor of College Hall at Gonzaga in October of 2011. The recruiter out of Seattle was in town for a visit so we planned a meeting. It was actually a really great experience for me. I don’t stress out about interviews—I’ve interviewed with tons of people and spent 2 years as an HIV-testing counselor during which I had to tell one person that their test results came back “reactive” and let me tell you, talking to a recruiter about why you want to spend 27 months as a volunteer in a developing country is far less stressful than asking people about their sex lives. I was nominated.

The invitation

Then came the medical packet. What a deceptively small packet that is. There are quite a few papers that come along with the packet but while reviewing them it seemed pretty straight forward. “I’ll get this done in a month” I said to myself. Right. I received the packet in late October and sent it off in April 6 months later. I didn’t have any conditions that needed to be double checked but I also had trouble getting appointments in a timely manner and some weird speed bumps slowed my progress along the way. I would suggest making appointments to see a doctor and a dentist a few weeks out as soon as you hear that you have been nominated. Make sure they know that you are going to need a pretty thorough examination and an hour isn’t at all unreasonable to assume. I went to a cheap clinic for people who don’t have insurance and they were only able to do 15-minute appointments with the doctor but the nurses were a huge help. I'll write another blog chronicling the issues I had so that you might be able to get around them if you have issues with your medical evaluation. For now I'll just say that there is a lot more to the process than the paperwork suggests. I don't mean that the PC is hiding information on the medical forms. I just mean that what looks like a single box to get checked off might actually take a few weeks where as entire pages of information may be able to be completed in a matter of minutes. I finally finished everything and submitted everything in April.

Then came the waiting game. What did I mess up? How long will it take to hear back? If I have to redo something is that going to set my start-date back weeks/months? I did end up having to do a few things here and there but I'll write more about those in my medical evaluation blog. There wasn't much I had to do though. I did have a few things that weren't related to the medical evaluation to complete: an updated resume and available date to leave but all that took only a week or so to complete.

At long last, on Tuesday, July 24th, I received my invitation. I literally screamed, jumped up and down, and ran around the house. After such a long process it was great to finally know where and when I was going: Samoa, October 5th staging.

My placement: Samoa!

I can't wait for this next journey and I look forward to keeping everyone updated through this blog. I've been in contact with a current PC Volunteer in Samoa (Thanks, Nancy!) and have been online and on Youtube looking at posts from lots of current and former Volunteers and it sounds like I'll have plenty of opportunity to write. 2 months, 2 days to go.