How to Get a Military Medical Discharge

A medical discharge from the military is a process of evaluations to determine if there is a physical or psychological condition that prohibits the individual from performing the required duties. The service member will be evaluated to determine fitness for duty or which type of discharge is appropriate.

Instructions

Analyze Criteria for Medical Disability Status

1. Schedule a visit with the military doctor, who is legally entitled to start the process of getting a medical discharge. A complete medical evaluation will be performed. The results will then be processed through the disability evaluation system that is set in place to review each request.

2. Realize that some conditions, such as a missing limb, is an obvious qualifier for initiating the process to qualify for a military medical discharge. Other disease processes are not so obvious and sometimes require initiation by a civilian doctor.

3. Evaluate any condition in relation to the safety and well-being of the service member and the other members. If the medical condition makes the member unfit to perform her duties without imposing unreasonable requirements on other members, she is a candidate for a military medical discharge.

4. Be on active duty and entitled to basic pay when the medical condition was incurred in order to get the benefits of a medical military discharge.

5. Provide a civilian doctor with the appropriate documents outlining the specific information required to initiate a request for medical disability. This may include past medical records to substantiate the claim of present injury or exacerbation of an injury or illness that prohibits performance of required duties.

6. Realize the service member cannot apply for disability discharge. The request must be made by either a medical officer or the service member's commanding officer with a full explanation of the illness.

7. Consider the Medical Evaluation Board the first step. Once the Board determines there is enough evidence to support a consideration of medical discharge, the case is referred to the Physical Evaluation Board.

8. Have your evidence reviewed by the Physical Evaluation Board, which is responsible for assessing all documented evidence to determine fitness to remain in the military. If the determination is for discharge, the percentage of benefits for disability will also be determined.

Tips & Warnings

• Repeated visits or a second opinion from a military doctor may be required to get the attention of the Medical Evaluation Board.

• If you entered the military with a medical problem, or if the medical problem is a result of your misconduct after entering the service, you may be discharged without disability benefits.