Length of time to change a medical catagory

[Jarnhamar]

A few years ago I was put on a medical category by mistake. A partial dislocated shoulder sounds a lot like a diseased shoulder, apparently.  My CT to the regs was refused at the time (without telling me, though, I was still fit to go to Afghanistan  :  )and it took almost 3 years to correct the 15 second mistake the medic did. I magically no longer have a diseased and deformed shoulder.

Big cry for me

So a couple of years ago during another medical a medic (once again) changed my medcat.  I took an eye exam and the medic told me I needed glasses. I argued I didn't. She was the expert, I lost,my vision changed from V1 to V2. 
I convinced myself I needed eye surgery to get my sight back to perfect and went to a laser eye doctor in Ottawa to get my eyes fixed . She laughed and said my vision was 20/15 and I don't need glasses.

Doing my post tour medical I asked about changing my vision category back but was told it's still a huge process. Make an appointment for an eye exam in a month or two then another appointment to have a full medical (which the waiting period is months long) then start the paperwork to change the medcat.  I don't want to even guess at how long that is going to take start to finish. 
Is there a way I can speed the process up?  Can I get a civilian doctors note saying my eyes are 20/20 and skip going back and forth to Ottawa for appointments and such? Will the CF take a civilian doctors word over a corporal?

 

[ltmaverick25]

I had something similar happen to me.  I was put on a MEDCAT by accident.  It was a typo when some clerk was entering my medical information into my MPRR.  It delayed my CT as well.  I went through months of BS only to find out that it was indeed a typo, and my issue was fixed in 5 seconds...

If I were you, I would go get documentation from civie experts, then write a redress of greivence and attach your documentation.  Push it up as high as you can and kick and scream the whole way. 

Back when I was trying to get mine fixed, I was told the standard time to complete is 3 years.  When I asked why, the responce was, "you just arent a priority"...

 

[Monsoon]

Doing my post tour medical I asked about changing my vision category back but was told it's still a huge process. Make an appointment for an eye exam in a month or two then another appointment to have a full medical (which the waiting period is months long) then start the paperwork to change the medcat.  I don't want to even guess at how long that is going to take start to finish. 
Is there a way I can speed the process up?  Can I get a civilian doctors note saying my eyes are 20/20 and skip going back and forth to Ottawa for appointments and such? Will the CF take a civilian doctors word over a corporal?

In a word, no.

Changing a vision category may be a "huge process"... but not for you. You just get an eye appointment and the paperwork gets staffed to change you back to V1 just the same way as it was staffed to change you to V2.

In terms of speeding up the process, your local medical clinic may have an arrangement with a civilian optometrist who can take you for an exam more quickly; I know I was able to do that on one occasion, but it was something they did because the requirement was relatively short-fuse. Doesn't hurt to ask.

As far as speeding up the staffwork, however, I wouldn't waste my effort. It'll probably take six months from the date of the eye exam (assuming your own unit deals with it expediently - in my experience a lack of knowledge about medical admin at the unit level is half the problem with this sort of thing). Maybe your unit can put a rush on it if there's a reason to, but it doesn't sound like you're in a career-limiting situation.

 

[blacktriangle]

A few years ago I was put on a medical category by mistake. A partial dislocated shoulder sounds a lot like a diseased shoulder, apparently.  My CT to the regs was refused at the time (without telling me, though, I was still fit to go to Afghanistan  :  )and it took almost 3 years to correct the 15 second mistake the medic did. I magically no longer have a diseased and deformed shoulder.

Big cry for me

So a couple of years ago during another medical a medic (once again) changed my medcat.  I took an eye exam and the medic told me I needed glasses. I argued I didn't. She was the expert, I lost,my vision changed from V1 to V2. 
I convinced myself I needed eye surgery to get my sight back to perfect and went to a laser eye doctor in Ottawa to get my eyes fixed . She laughed and said my vision was 20/15 and I don't need glasses.

Doing my post tour medical I asked about changing my vision category back but was told it's still a huge process. Make an appointment for an eye exam in a month or two then another appointment to have a full medical (which the waiting period is months long) then start the paperwork to change the medcat.  I don't want to even guess at how long that is going to take start to finish. 
Is there a way I can speed the process up?  Can I get a civilian doctors note saying my eyes are 20/20 and skip going back and forth to Ottawa for appointments and such? Will the CF take a civilian doctors word over a corporal?

Hey man,

Sure hope this isn't hindering you from any of your career pursuits...if it is, maybe you can somehow get the command to go to bat for you with regards to expediting the process of changing the medcat.

Sometimes just having an officer with some pull on your side can get stuff done fast as anything. I have had administrative issues that were supposed to take months take only days because someone with bars cared enough to cut through the bureaucracy and figure out what the hold up was. Never medical though, but just a thought.

Good luck.  ushup: T:

 

[Jarnhamar]

Neo.
I realize a mod recently made a post here warning against asking for specific "soldiers only please" types of posts. I appreciate you trying to help but being a civilian with no military experience you're pretty far out of your lanes responding to a question on how the military medical system works, know what I mean?

Remainder, I'm not sure if the last time it was a fluke but it took years to get it changed back. It took 2 months to get get a 5 minute appointment. I'm told I need a full medical to begin the process of changing it back- that seems out of control.

 

[dustinm]

Neo.
I realize a mod recently made a post here warning against asking for specific "soldiers only please" types of posts. I appreciate you trying to help but being a civilian with no military experience you're pretty far out of your lanes responding to a question on how the military medical system works, know what I mean?

Understood. I've redacted my original post.

 

[Monsoon]

Remainder, I'm not sure if the last time it was a fluke but it took years to get it changed back. It took 2 months to get get a 5 minute appointment. I'm told I need a full medical to begin the process of changing it back- that seems out of control.

Yep, seems pretty silly. Welcome to the world of HSvcGp.

Seriously though, the difference may be that the first time around you were trying to get a medical employment limitation (MEL) reversed. That takes if not quite "literally" forever, close enough for the purposes of comparison. Since your V1 -> V2 change didn't cause a MEL (being as you're infantry, unless I'm missing something) it should staff faster.

 

[Armymedic]

Timeline from day of medical complete until your med cat change shows up on your EEMA...

very vary; person and place dependant (no the vary is not a typo).

The is no plesant answer to your question.

1 month to 2 years.