• Army Physicals?

  September 22, 2010

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  Tags:  

  army   medical   corps  

        For the past year, I have been contemplating joining the military as an Occupational Therapist. I have been wavering between the Navy and Army and couldn't really make my decision.  Sometimes, working with the recruiters can be difficult, and you hear a lot of rumors and warnings about people getting "tricked" into signing contracts,  giving up your rights/freedom and being swept away to boot camp.

       I had the opportunity this past week to be invited to Fort Sam Houston to take my physical exam and tour Brooke Army Medical Center as well as the Center for the Intrepid.  Some of my enlisted friends warned me about army physicals and how they will separate you by gender and make you strip down to your undergarments.  That the will make you do the "duck walk", give a complete pelvic and rectal exam.  I was definitely expecting the worst. And, let me tell you, I was very surprised.

       The three day tour was nothing but a red carpet rolled out.  The entire expense of the trip was paid for by the Army including transportation and meals. Each escort/recruiter went above and beyond to make sure that any and all questions were answered.  Even the minute and mundane questions were answered as if it was the most serious question.  They made sure that the environment and atmosphere of the tour was as non stressful as possible.

       The physical exams were not in a group, they were individually completed.  The physicians (Maj. Stanley and Dillon) were very personable and even went the extra mile to share their experiences in the Army. And the courtesy of making sure their hands were not cold when they performed the physicals was just that extra touch that makes you feel like they really did care.  

       I think that the highlight of the tour was really the tour of the Center for the Intrepid.  It was...amazing and really touched the core of why I want to join the Army as an Occupational Therapist.  I consider this our generation's war...equal to that of my parent's generation of the Vietnam war, and my grandparent's generation with the Korean war...  We have an influx of our soldiers returning with horrific injuries.  If we have learned anything at all from our parents' and grandparents' generation: that is the importance of not abandoning our returning heroes when they need us the most.  The Intrepid was amazing and had state of the art rehab equipment to ensure that our soldiers will be able to re-integrate back into the community as well as have a quality of life that they fully and completely deserve.  Every person we talked to, planned or unplanned, spoke with the same passion and belief of the importance of  Army Medicine.  If they had put a contract in front of me at the end of that three day tour, I would not even blink an eye to hesitate to sign it.

       Thank you Brooke Army Medical Center, thank you to the recruiters/escorts (CAPT Burniston, SFC Broughton, SFC White, CAPT Potter, SFC? Nance--I know I forgot a lot of you and probably messed up your title)... but most of all, Thank you for the commitment and work of all the servicemen and women.  It makes me shameful to think how unaware I have been in my life and how little I have done for my country.   However, the tour has reaffirmed my desire to push forward my application with the Army... sorry Navy, I have jumped ship and found that green is probably a better color for me.

  submitted by Esther Noh on Sep 22 2010

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