Medical Standards & Common Medical Questions/Topics

[old medic]

Enrollment Medical Exam

There have been numerous postings and threads asking about the medical. This short
guide should help you understand the medical portion of the recruiting process.

Everyone applying to join the Canadian Forces will have a medical exam completed.
The enrollment medical will consist of a few common parts.

- A health questionaire relating to your past medical history, and your family history
  followed by an interview with a senior medic.
- A Vision test
- A Colour vision test
- A hearing test
- A urine test (fill a sample jar)
- A general physical exam - blood pressure, height, weight, joints, bones, reflexes, symetry, skin, eyes, nose, throat, etc.

http://www.forces.ca/en/page/theapplicationprocess-106#step4-4
(document at the link above has changed and now contains minimal information - Dec 2008)

If the medical staff find a concern with any portion of the exam, more information will be requested.
This could be, but is not limited to:

- A letter from your doctor or other health care provider
- Bringing a form to a health care specialist, to be fill out
- Further examination or testing of specific findings

Once this is done, the collected information with be compared with the Medical Standards for the Canadian Forces.
This book is commonly referred to as CFP154. 

You can find the entire standard here:
http://www.forces.gc.ca/health-sante/pd/cfp-pfc-154/default-eng.asp

Based on these standards, the applicant will be assigned a medical category.

As an example a Medical category might be expressed as 111225
That would be read as V1, CV1, H1, G2, O2, A5
or; Vision 1, Colour Vision 1, Hearing 1, Geographic 2, Occupational 2, Aircrew 5

The numbers stand for:

V - Visual Acuity
      V1 to V5    (V1 is good vision, V5 is poor vision)
      You must be V1 to V4 to be enrolled.
      For more information click here:
      http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/31590.0.html

CV - Colour Vision
    CV1, CV2 or CV3
    All can be enrolled, but may limit your choice of trades.
    For more information click here:
    http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/37585.0.html

H - Hearing (Auditory Acuity)
    H1 to H4  ( H1 is standard hearing or above, H4 is poor)
    You must be H1 or H2 to be enrolled.
    For more information click here:
    http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/55464.0.html

G - Geographical Factor
    G1 to G6
    You must be G2 to be enrolled.
    G1 - Assigned to the member who has successfully passed the stringent medical requirements for such unique duty as astronaut training;
    G2 - Normal - No geographic limitations
    G3 to G6 Assigned to the member who has various limitations to their Geographic employment.
    For more information on these categories click here:
    http://www.forces.gc.ca/health-sante/pd/cfp-pfc-154/CH-3-eng.asp

O - Occupational Factor
    O1 to O6
    You must be O2 to be enrolled.
    O1 - assigned to those rare members who have successfully completed medical screening for such unique duties as astronaut training.
    O2 - Normal - No Occupational restriction
    O3 to 06 - Assigned to the member who has occupational limits.
    For more information on these categories click here:
      http://www.forces.gc.ca/health-sante/pd/cfp-pfc-154/CH-3-eng.asp

A - Air Factor
    A1 to A7
    A1 - Pilot:  fit to fly
    A2 - All other aircrew fit to fly
    A3 - Aircrew member with a limitation
    A4 - Aircrew member not currently on flying duty
    A5 - Non-aircrew: can fly as passenger
    A6 - Non-aircrew: cannot fly as passenger
    A7 - Aircrew member: cannot fly as aircrew

    Aircrew - Additional Information
    Aircrew applicants require Air Category A1 to A4
    There are currently no public websites that outline this testing, but for reference the aircrew medical
    standards can be found in CF Publication A-GA-005-000/AG-001 DND/CF Airworthiness Program
    Chapter 7 - Medical Standards For CF Aircrew

    A seperate document about aircrew vision can be found in the vision category thread:
    http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/31590.0.html

    All others trades must be able to fly as a passenger and meet A5.

Inside the CFP 154 is the Generic Task Statement. It was previously called the Common Enrollment Medical Standard (CEMS).  Everyone must meet the Generic Task Statement before they can join.
You can find it here:
http://www.forces.gc.ca/health-sante/pd/cfp-pfc-154/AN-Dapp1-eng.asp

Based on the above standards, the minimum Medical Category you need to be enrolled is 432225

If you do not meet the common standard, a letter saying such will be mailed to you.
If you do meet the common standard, your medical category is then compared to the minimum category for your selected occupations.
You can find a listing of the minimum medical categories for each military occupation here:
http://www.forces.gc.ca/health-sante/pd/cfp-pfc-154/AN-E-eng.asp

It is also compared with your selected MOC's task statement:
You can find the MOC task statements here:
http://www.forces.gc.ca/health-sante/pd/cfp-pfc-154/AN-D-eng.asp

If the Recruiting Medical Officer (RMO) determines that you meet all of these, then you have passed the medical portion.

If it is determined that you meet the Common Enrollment Medical Standard, but do not meet the standard for your selected
occupations, then you will be contacted to consider other military occupations.

Questions?

If you have questions regarding the Enrollment Medical for recruiting,  we invite you to search the
Recruiting FAQ located at:
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/21101.0.html

or use the Army.ca search function located at the top of the page.

If you can not find the specific information you are looking for, we invite you to post your questions.

<Updated to reflect DND web address changes, July 2006, December 2008, Feb  2010, and Aug 2011>

 

[Plumber066]

Hey, I am 29 and a red seal plumber. I'm looking to join the forces for a change of pace. I had a history of drug abuse and mental illness in my late teens early twenties and has been documented with my doctors. Would that disqualify me from potential employment?

 

[DAA]

Hey, I am 29 and a red seal plumber. I'm looking to join the forces for a change of pace. I had a history of drug abuse and mental illness in my late teens early twenties and has been documented with my doctors. Would that disqualify me from potential employment?

That's a "medical" question, that can only be answered by your local CFRC and only after you have applied.

 

[Tollis]

The only way to know for sure is to speak to your recruiter and be up front about everything.  Every application is looked at on a case by case basis.

 

[kratz]

The following threads are useful topics. In your career, you will be encouraged to not only ask questions, but to seek out, research and find the answers. This list is not exhaustive; searching the site prior to posting, is recommended. Often, what you are searching for has already been asked and answered.

If the site search function does not work, using one of these search term in Google will often offer better results:
"site:navy.ca [insert topic]",    "site:army.ca [insert topic]",    "site:air-force.ca [insert topic]",  or    "site:milnet.ca [insert topic]"

ADHD, ADD, and why we can't get in rants......,

Allergies in the CF,

Asthma & the CF (merged thread),

(RANT) THE CF DOES NOT OWE YOU A JOB (RANT),

The Depression / Anti Depressants Merged Thread,

Enrollment Medical Standards,

Epilepsy (Merged),

Hearing (Merged) Including Hearing Tests and Hearing,

Medical Information - Lying, Hiding, or Misleading [MERGED],

Medical Review Board/File Review/Wait Time (Merged),

Things not to ask (or say) in the Recruit Medical Threads,

Vision Questions Megathread, Categories, Problems etc.

 

[mathew1234]

i would lile to talk to a person who does the medical test to see if i am able to join

 

[mariomike]

i would lile to talk to a person who does the medical test to see if i am able to join

For reference,

Enrollment Medical Standards
https://navy.ca/forums/threads/37674.0.html

 

[Loachman]

i would lile to talk to a person who does the medical test to see if i am able to join

Welcome to Army.ca, mathew1234.

The only way that you will ever know if you are able to join or not is to actually apply and go through the recruiting process.

Nobody here can give you a better answer than that, although you may find some indications in the thread to which my esteemed colleague provided a link.

There is a ton of useful information here on this Site. Take some time to explore existing threads. You may well find answers to questions before they even occur to you.

 

[mathew1234]

i had a aorta dissection.. but i woild like to join my heart dr said i could if they will allow me she would sign off on it... would i be able to chat who goes over the medical stuff.?

 

[Loachman]

You are lucky to be alive.

So is somebody close to me, albeit with a dissection of a different major blood vessel.

My statement, "The only way that you will ever know if you are able to join or not is to actually apply and go through the recruiting process", in my last response still applies. Nobody here can, or will, give you a definitive answer beyond that.