What To Bring To My C& P Exams?

[TANKERJOE0]

I HAVE 3 SEPERATE C & P EXAMS SCHEDULED FOR 1/15/09 IN GAINSVILLE FLORIDA.I AM WONDERING WHAT MEDICAL RECORDS ARE NECESSARY TO BRING WITH ME??? I SENT ALL OF MY MEDICAL RECORD EVIDENCE AND BUDDY STATEMENTS TO THE REGIONAL OFFICE IN ST PETE,FL.WONT THE DR FOR MY C&P EXAM HAVE ALREADY SEEN OR ABLE TO LOOK UP MY MEDICAL RECORDS? OR SHOULD I BRING ALL OF MY COPIES FOR HIM TO SEE??? IS HE THE ONE MAKING THE DECISION IF I WILL BE COMPENSATED OR IS HE JUST VERIFYING MY DISABILITIES AND THE EXTENT OF THOSE DISABILITIES AND SOMEONE ELSE DECIDES MY RATINGS??? COULD SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME.I JUST WANT TO MAKE THIS GO AS SMOOTHE AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE FOR ME AND THE DRS INVOLVED.

THANKS SOOO MUCH FOR ANY INFO YOU COULS PROVIDE.

SEMPER FI!!!

TANKERJOE

[USMC_HVEQ]

tanks, HE here, helping again, haha. Umm, the C&P examiners only write reports, VA raters do the rating, so it is a separate person that will take in the data and sort it out to which criteria it meets.

Service medical records are already on file? no need for anything really

Buddy lettors? no need (these are statements of support anyways.

VA medical notes, they should have them in your C-File and the examiner should review it prior to you arriving. What most likely will ahppen is they will say I need a few minutes to review your file then call you in.

I suggested that you get copies of all your mental health notes, just so you can prepare. If gainsville is too far from where you live then I understand. If you can get up there early and get copies then you could do that (same day) or try and get them before that, so you can make your list of your symptoms. They are going to expect you to know all of them and give examples as stated in the VA worksheet I attached in your other posting. You cant go in and say everything is in my notes. They want an independent opinion outside of the person treating you everyday to confirm your diagnosis and the severity level. They will also make their own recommendation and diagnosis. I'm speaking just about mental health at this time. It seems from other posting of others and personal experience, they seem to weight this 1 visit on par with all your other visits combined. I could be wrong, but this is what Im going through. Whatever mistakes I've made, I'm trying to help you avoid them. You need to print out or go down that worksheet yourself. If you have all your VA notes from before it can help refresh your memory. They want to see consistency in your statements, proof of stressors, and current symptoms. The current symptoms is all they care about. If you were worse and some areas but improved, dont tell them that at this appt. They will say, hey he's improving and low ball you. After you have each C&P exam, about 1-2 wks generally, they are available. I suggest you get copies and comeback to this foruma nd post the results. Everyone will help you out.

Service med notes? probably not

buddy leters? nah you should be good

VA mental health notes? would be ideal, but ultimately its up to you.

If you know what the past diagnosis was, GAF scores if any? sympotms noted by docotr, other sympotms which you might want to expansd on? etc.

[LarryJ]

The C&P examiner (maybe an M.D., maybe a P.A., maybe a Nurse Practitioner, maybe a D.O.) will make the medical determination as to what exactly is your disability.....in other words, the diagnosis. They will have see (or at least they supposedly will have seen) your service medical records. It is my experience that, even if you take a bunch of stuff to the C&P, that it will not get seen or introduced into your medical records....simply because these C&P examiners have only so much time to examine you. They work on a contract basis for the VA, they are not directly employed BY the VA. So, the more C&P exams that they can work into a day, the more money they make, which means you'll be in and out in a flash (you may have to WAIT to be seen, but once seen, and you're outta there).

Then the C&P gets sent to your VA Regional Office and there it is taken apart by a "rater", whose sole purpose in life is to throughly screw up any and all claims.........and then they will send you your denial letter and then you will have to send them a NOD (notice of disagreement) then they will send your claim to the BVA (board of veterans appeals) and then THEY will send it to the AMC (appeals management center) then THEY will send it back to the VA Regional Office, then they will send you a big ol truck just full of money...................darn it, I just ran out of beer, money and time.

But, I do write a good story, now don't I?

goodnight and Semper Fi

[john999]

I would say just bring yourself, and be pro-active about talking about your symptoms. If any part of the exam hurts tell them to stop whatever they are doing. For instance, to check ROM they may move your arms or legs or tell you to bend over. If it hurt stop and tell them you cannot move beyond this point without pain.

[poolguy11550]

I would say just bring yourself, and be pro-active about talking about your symptoms. If any part of the exam hurts tell them to stop whatever they are doing. For instance, to check ROM they may move your arms or legs or tell you to bend over. If it hurt stop and tell them you cannot move beyond this point without pain.

Good advice far, but I always bring a note pad and write the time the exam started and ended. I ask the examiner if he/she is a doctor (MD) and what their specialty is or note otherwise. Finally, I ask if the examiner has reviewed my complete claims file before the exam and if they have it with them now. I write this down in front of him/her or my wife will do the same. I do take my medical records that should be in my c-file but very rarely will any examiner look at them. I do hand them a short statement to keep, that connects the evidence to the current issue- believe it that has been more helpful than taking in my c-file and records.

[john999]

I had an exam for DMII and for PN and both exams took less than ten minutes. It was basic to say the least. I still had to appeal even though the conditions were presumptive.

[daveesl]

I had my C&P exam last week and I have to say the doctor (a real doctor, I might add) brought me in early and must have spent 45 minutes going over my symptoms, doing a physical exam and looking over the pile of research documents I brought in, along with an IMO letter. I don't know if that means anything, but I have to say I did not feel like I was getting the bums rush in it. We'll see how things go from here. I'm not counting on anything.