ugh...getting a training medical form

[bradlw]

So
I'm thinking forward to someday getting my kids into an OW training class and I will simultaneously take a refresher along with them while I "audit" their class.
So, since I'll be doing training to I took a look at the medical form. If I'm honest I have to check a few boxes. Gerd, high cholesterol, maybe some other minor thing, but the catch was surgery. i just had surgery a few weeks ago (Gerd+ hiatal hernia repair) so i had the form in hand when I went in for my 1 week follow-up appointment with the surgeon. Actually with his PA. She said (as did the surgeon when i asked) that she has no problem with me diving after my recovery but she refused to sign the form! Said I need to go to my primary car doc since he knows me better. I'm just frustrated because the only reason I need the doc to sign is because of the GERD which is now theoretically fixed and the recent surgery which my regular doc knows nothing about!
so one to-do item left floating for the future. ugh

 

[VikingDives]

So
I'm thinking forward to someday getting my kids into an OW training class and I will simultaneously take a refresher along with them while I "audit" their class.
So, since I'll be doing training to I took a look at the medical form. If I'm honest I have to check a few boxes. Gerd, high cholesterol, maybe some other minor thing, but the catch was surgery. i just had surgery a few weeks ago (Gerd+ hiatal hernia repair) so i had the form in hand when I went in for my 1 week follow-up appointment with the surgeon. Actually with his PA. She said (as did the surgeon when i asked) that she has no problem with me diving after my recovery but she refused to sign the form! Said I need to go to my primary car doc since he knows me better. I'm just frustrated because the only reason I need the doc to sign is because of the GERD which is now theoretically fixed and the recent surgery which my regular doc knows nothing about!
so one to-do item left floating for the future. ugh

I've run with a cardiologist and a surgeon. It's frustrating, but really your PCP should know everything that's going on with you, not just the little slice of the pie that a specialist would have...

 

[Scubagolf]

I am 72, had gall bladder surgery 5 weeks ago, and just last week my surgeon released me to full activity. I sent the dive medical release to my primary care doctor with a stamped return envelope with a cover letter stating the above about the recent surgery. My doctor signed it and had it mailed back to me.

 

[MidOH]

I hate it to. Gatekeeper nonsense.

I have no medical history. This is just a waste of my time, and makes me no safer. It's so silly. If Im a mess, I just find a doctor thatll sign off on anything. Theres no less than a dozen old, fat, train wrecks on every warm water boat Ive been on. They could keel over at any time.

I dont think Ill need one until AN/DP. Everything before that, I can find a LDS that needs no form.

 

[tursiops]

I dont think Ill need one until AN/DP. Everything before that, I can find a LDS that needs no form.

You'll need one for any in-water class you take, no matter how much you beat your chest.

 

[bradlw]

yeah the primary should know everything about me in theory...but the only reasons for the need for a doc's signature is 1) the surgery and 2) the thing that the surgery fixed
it's not a doc signature saying my ears are fine...or anything else!

Simple. Be dishonest, don't check the boxes, accept the risk.

Save diving.

that's actually what the surgeon's PA kind of implied! wow

 

[drrich2]

Actually with his PA. She said (as did the surgeon when i asked) that she has no problem with me diving after my recovery but she refused to sign the form!

There's an old adage, 'Where you stand on an issue depends on where you sit.' To you, it's about signing off on a technicality so you can do something you want that appears low risk to you.

To her, it may look like signing off making herself (and the surgeon) potentially liable in a malpractice suit if you are seriously injured or die, and someone alleges she was negligent in signing off on you.

Physicians are often hit up to provide 'return to work' clearances for jobs where the physician has little knowledge of the demands the worker faces on the job. To the patient and employer, it's a technicality. To the physician, it's a liability hazard.

I'm in the analogy mood. Imagine someone tries to give you a lottery ticket, for free, but instead of a big payout, if you 'win' they'll come back and shoot you in the head. Even if your odds of 'winning' are very remote, you won't want to take that ticket, and you'll avoid it if you can. It may be a tiny risk, but a physician or APRN practice takes on a great many tiny (and sometimes not so tiny) risks, and they add up over the course of a career.

 

[formernuke]

If I was either of your doctors I would gladly sign it, AFTER YOU RECOVERED. Anything else is just putting there career at risk.

I ran into a similar situation. I waited till the injury healed before dropping off the forms.

 

[tursiops]

You show up at the dive operator to go on the boat and they ask, "Are you certified?" You say yes, and they say, "Prove it." So you show them your OW cert card.
Then they say, "We're going to a deep site. You'll need AOW." You say, I've done a lot of deep dives. They say, "Prove it." You show them your Deep card or AOW card, or logbook.
You say, "Oh yeah, I want to take a class." They say, "Fill out this medical questionnaire." You say, "I'm fine, no problems, heathy as an ox." they say, "Prove it, or no class." You fill out the form with all No's. They look at you, look at your cert card that says you are over 45, look at your 270 pound body, and say, "you need a signature."
Now, maybe you are not over 45, maybe you are not overweight, but....it is not just about YOU. Get over it; it is also about THEM and the other passengers, and the poor instructor who is caught in the middle. Do you not care that your lying about your medical condition also can affect them? Is it so damn hard to get your PCP to sign it? Just likw with your logbook....prove that you are medically fit. We already know we can't believe you; let your PCP convince them.

 

[Doc]

This is a question about the medical industry’s nexus with our litigious society,

Not necessarily a SCUBA ingredient.

Can this be done on-line via Zoom with a sub-continent “doctor”? That’s who signs off on all my imaging scans.

And Viagra scrips.

Must check the Googles.