<p>My son, a high school sophomore, has expressed quite a bit of interest in the AFA for the past few years. Since I do not have any military background, I’ve been following the USAFA website and forums such as this one to familiarize myself with the Academy.</p>
<p>As we’ve learned more about the qualification process, I’ve been concerned about one aspect of the medical exam - specifically, the emphasis that seems to be placed on asthma.</p>
<p>When my son was nine years old, he experienced some difficulty breathing during a sports practice. The doctor thought it might be asthma, and prescribed an inhaler. He used the inhaler off & on for a couple of months, then discarded it. He has not had any breathing issues since that time. That one visit to the doctor (who has since retired) was the only time that asthma was discussed.</p>
<p>My question is how this should be approached by my son during the medical qualifying process. Obviously, I do not want him to lie to Dodmerb, but I would also hate to see him unnecessarily raise an issue that could jeopardize his chances. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to approach this, when the time comes?</p>
<p>The only way to approach this is to be completely truthful. You will also end up going through quite a bit more paperwork, but it is really important to get this resolved before starting at an academy. If you look at the threads from each academy, you'll see quite a bit of discussion regarding asthma. You'll also see some of the success stories. Good luck!</p>
<p>Get a copy of your son's medical record to see if he was ever diagnosed with asthma. We had a similar experience when my son was an infant. The breathing issue was mentioned but asthma was not.We asked his doctor to write an explanation and foward it to the proper personel at the Academy. If your son does not have a "history" of asthma then it should not be an issue. As momoftwins stated honesty is the best policy, just make sure you have correct information!</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions. Being dishonest was never an option; however, we also did not want to create a problem where one doesn't exist. We'll talk to his current doctor about this, and see how it was written in his medical record.</p>
<p>His "history" should work in his favor - he is very active athletically, and has not had a recurrence of the shortness of breath in the past seven years. Frankly, we had always written the entire incident off to a bad case of bronchitis, and wouldn't have given it another thought if he hadn't started looking into the AFA.</p>
<p>The key phrases in the medical records are "asthma" and "reactive airway disease" (RAD). If these are in there, then you need to prepare for all the rebuttal methods and process that lies ahead. Follow the threads to find out what people have done to successfully prove that they did not have asthma. If these phrases are not listed in the medical records, you should be OK.
CM</p>
<p>That is something they look for I think. But if it hasn't been a problem and he's played other sports since then, then I'm sure you'll get it passed.</p>
<p>Actually I had this exact same thing happen to me. It was a baseball practice as a freshman and was a singular occurance. What I did was to get a couple letters from doctors and coaches basically saying that it hasn't been an issue etc. The doctor one is really big. They will ask you for more information when they evaluate you. You'll get a sheet and ask you to make statements about the asthma/RAD etc and just be honest. They'll also ask for your full medical record (this is where a doctor saying that there is and has not been any reoccurance etc comes in) Also, they look at your prescription record, having not refilled the prescription for albuterol will be a big one..</p>
<p>This has been very helpful. We will talk to his current doctor about getting a letter regarding his lack of respiratory problems. I wish the doctor that originally treated him was still around - I would have liked to have gotten a letter from him as well. Still, getting letters from his current doctor and various coaches shouldn't be a problem.</p>
<p>Well ask for the doctors letter at his next physical, but will probably wait on the coaches letters until closer to the time of his Dodmerb physical (hes a sophomore, so this is at least one year early). I assume that his prescription record is already a part of his medical record, so I won't need to get anything special to show that there have not been any inhalers purchased in the past seven years?</p>
<p>The medical records with your doctor will indicate what was prescribed, and when, but will not include a purchase history (unless you belong to one of those all inclusive, one-stop treatment HMO plans where everything is under one roof). Your physician does not know how many times a prescription was refilled, for example. Those records are with your pharmacist and your medical insurance company.
CM</p>
<p>CM - I'm pretty sure they can request that information without asking you.... or maybe they did - I don't remember. I do know that it was significant that I hadn't renewed the prescription</p>
<p>My daughter began her interest in applying to WP during her sophomore year. One goal was to attend the IAW at West Point so that she could get some first hand information. I can tell you one important point that we didn't know then. When the high school juniors apply to the various academy summer programs, the applications will ask for basically similar information. Many juniors have not yet had the opportunity to be team captains or even varsity letter winners yet. Club leadership roles are often reserved for seniors. The high schools are very different from each other, so the only common criteria for selection purposes will be the PSAT scores. (Of course we found this out well after the PSAT was administered at our school.) The Admissions reps we spoke with told us that high PSAT scores along with the high school experiences listed on the summer applications will make a candidate more competitive. </p>
<p>So, if your son is now a sophomore, take a look at the summer application. Also, if you think he may need any prep work for the PSAT, you will have time over the summer.</p>
<p>One of my son's teachers recommended that the kids in her class take the PSAT this year (their sophomore year) for the experience. Clearly, though, with a selection index of 169, he will want to take it again his Junior year. Hopefully, he can increase the score significantly enough to help him earn admittance to the summer seminar program.</p>
<p>Although we have yet to experience it, it has become clear as we have researched the Air Force Academy that the application process is significantly more exacting than that of nearly any civilian university. Initially, when my son first began expressing an interest in the Air Force Academy, the focus of our research was more out of curiosity than any serious thought that he needed to begin preparing for the application process.</p>
<p>Honestly, it still seems awfully early to be thinking about college, but clearly that is not the case. The thoughts and experiences expressed by members on this forum have provided valuable information, and are greatly appreciated.</p>