Our Story

Our Story: After meeting in graduate school at UGA, we were married in 2011 in Marietta, Georgia. A year later, we joined the Peace Corps as environmental conservation volunteers and embarked on our adventure in Paraguay!

Disclaimer: The contents of this blog are ours personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps.

January 17, 2012

Doctor, Doctor, Give me the News!

Our Medical Packets
Today, we received our Peace Corps medical packets in the mail! They include all the paperwork we will need to complete the medical review process. The review consists of three main parts: a physical exam, a dental exam, and an optometry exam. Special evaluation forms may be included based on your responses to the health status review section of your application (be careful of how you answer those questions; they request tons of additional paperwork for each item you list; it may save you a lot of headache later on).

Luckily, the Peace Corps is willing to provide partial payment for these exams and certain doctors offer them for free. Physical exams: $125 (males), $165 (females); Optometry: $12; Dental: $60. Dentists who are members of the International College of Dentists (ICD) will provide free exams and x-rays. You can search the list by city and state to find a dentist near you. Ben and I called the office at the top of the list and have already booked our free dental appointments. Federal medical facilities offer free physical exams, but they can be frustrating to work with because Peace Corps applicants are considered a very low priority.

Next Steps: Complete all of our exams, Fill out the paperwork, and Return the medical review packet to the Peace Corps

1 comment:

  1. In 2008 I went to counseling for a few weeks at my university and Peace Corps wanted more information about it. They requested a personal statement about this, and they also sent a long form for my counselor to fill out.

    I'm retyping the Mental Health Treatment Summary for anyone interested. Also, summaries of a bunch of similar forms can be found here http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-01-20/html/2012-1040.htm




    MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT SUMMARY

    1. Dates and FREQUENCY OF THERAPY SESSIONS

    Dates of all sessions (first, last, etc.)

    Was termination of sessions satisfactory/mutual?

    Did you meet with this applicant to complete this form?


    2. Please provide the following information based on your treatment and clinical assement of this applicant. Please be as detailed as possible.

    DIAGNOSES (DSM 1V CODES)
    Working Diagnoses & Date given

    Axis I:
    Axis II:
    Axis III:
    Axis IV:
    Axis V:

    Current Diagnosis

    Axis I:
    Axis II:
    Axis III:
    Axis IV:
    Axis V:


    *For a description of this system, look here: http://www.psyweb.com/DSM_IV/jsp/dsm_iv.jsp *


    Were there any other DSM Diagnses given during the course of treatment? If yes, please describe.


    3. PRESENTING PROBLEM & PRECIPITATING FACTORS:

    4. SYMPTOMS: Please be as specific and as comprehensive as possible.

    Symptom, Onset, Severity, Duration, Date remitted

    5. RELEVANT FAMILY HISTORY:

    6. COURSE OF TREATMENT:

    7. PSYCHOTROPIC MEDICATIONS: Current and Previous

    Medication and Dosage
    Start Date, End date
    Response to medication

    8. HISTORY OF PREVIOUS COUNSELING: (includes dates and DSM diagnoses where known.

    9. HISTORY OF PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALIZATIONS: (If applicable, please have the applicant provide discharge summary).

    10. HISTORY OF SUICIDE ATTEMPTS, GESTURES, IDEATION, or self-harm behavior: Please describe fully including dates and risk of recurrence under stress.

    11. LEVEL OF FUNCTIONING:
    History of functioning:
    Work:
    Interpersonal:

    Assessment of current functioning:
    Work:
    Interpersonal:

    12. PROGNOSIS

    13. RISK OF EXACERBATION OR RECURRENCE: Please consider issues of isolation, lack of structure and lack of social support in an overseas, austere environment.

    14. RECOMMENDATION FOR FOLLOW-UP:

    Additional Comments.


    And that's it!

    ReplyDelete

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