PC - Application Process, Part 2

To read the first part of my Peace Corps application process, click here. Now back to our story...

After being nominated for PC placement on April 5, I waited for the copious amounts of medical, dental, and eye forms to come in the mail. I received those forms in mid-April and hoped to get them all filled out by the time I left Wooster in mid-May. Oh, how naïve I was.

First, the dental examination forms are the least pressing. They can be filled out and completed up to thirty days before you actually leave. Of course, I had trouble getting this done the first time around, which I’ll tell you about a little later.

Second, the Wooster Wellness Center sucks for many reasons. My biggest gripe is the lack of an actual doctor there most of the time, especially when a doctor is only there in the morning. Too bad if all your classes are before noon. So, after calling to make an appointment, the only available time was at 8:45 AM on May 3, cutting it a little close to commencement weekend, especially because of the required blood and urinalysis tests. No problem, right?

Meanwhile, I try to get the vision form filled out (the easiest form of the bunch), but I have to wait until I get home because the doctor that prescribed your glasses has to fill it out. Apparently it’s too risky to let another professional read the numbers off your glasses. Oh, well, got that done in Kennesaw May 15.

Back to the ordeal of the actual medical exam. I go to the wellness center, get poked and prodded and stabbed. I get a call a couple days later saying I need to get another blood test. I forget why now, but the nurse told me usually only African-Americans get this particular blood test. Great.

Now, the medical exam is going smoothly, I just need to wait for my HIV and hepatitis tests to come back. I know 100% that I’m not HIV positive and don’t have hepatitis, so I’m not worried. HOWEVA (Thanks Stephen A.), the Cleveland Clinic loses my HIV test and Hepatitis test. Umm, hello??? What if you were actually worried you might have HIV or hepatitis? And, of course, I don’t find this out until the DAY I’M MOVING OUT AND HEADING HOME. Just another kick in the ass out the door from the College of Wooster.

Back at home in Kennesaw, I go to my doctor to get these blood tests done ASAP. The longer this takes, the longer my eventual departure date gets pushed back. But because I haven’t actually gone and seen the doctor in the last year or two, they don’t have my file in their office (where did it go?) and can’t get my blood test done. Now, I have to go to an independent blood work company; in this case, Any Tests, Inc., which is as sketchy as it sounds. There was some confusion over what the actual tests were (Umm, hello??? You’re a company that specializes in blood tests.), but it all got sorted out. I finally get these results back at the end of May or beginning of June, about a month later than the whole exam should have been finished.

The medical exam is sent in, and I’m medically cleared July 13. I was dentally cleared a couple weeks later on July 28 after having to go back into the office a second time because I was missing some x-rays.

There is now nothing left in between me and my invitation. It’s a relief and scary that I’ve gone through this whole process, and now it just comes down to waiting for an envelope to come in the mail. My next PC-related entry in this blog will be after I receive the invitation, whenever that may be, barring any unforeseen circumstances.