My response.

So. I heard back from the pre-service unit about my email. This is their response:

Your file was assigned to a nurse as of February 23, 2010.   Your nurse is currently reviewing files of applicants that are departing with earlier programs and so has not yet been able to begin your review.  This is our busiest time of year so reviews are currently taking up to 16 weeks or longer.  We are aware of your estimated departure date.

Thanks for your patience.

Best,

The Office of Medical Services

Pre-Service Unit

So even after I ask them to clarify, their response is still teeming with ambiguity.

Meanwhile, my friend Mariah, whose PC departure date is in July, just finished her medical clearance. AKA she's leaving after me, and they're already done with her paperwork. wtf.
----

I also CC'd the same email to my recruiter Tori Wilson to ask her what's up. She had a better response. She hypothesized that maybe they are frantically filling the positions with people who are already cleared, and since I am not cleared yet, my paperwork is just getting pushed back further and further while the spots fill up for people who are more ready to go. She also told me not to worry about the legal status taking a long time because apparently they always wait to clear people on that until after the medical review is passed. She then gave me the contact info of someone in the medical office, and that I can talk to that person as long as I realize its a favor and that I'm not really supposed to be asking this girl questions since she's too busy with more important things. I'll keep that on the back-burner until

So to summarize, Tori is awesome, but the medical clearance office staff are getting to me.

Getting restless...

A friend recently inquired about my status, etc. on facebook. A friend of hers decided to comment on our conversation so she could give me some advice:

i would reccomend calling them...because this same thing happened to me...and turns out they had lost my medical forms...

i am not saying this will happen to you but i suggest calling to double check!

 

Since it is getting pretty close to when I am supposed to leave, I decided to shoot Tori Wilson, my recruiter, a quick email. It's not her job to help people along with the medical evaluations, but I didn't really know who else to ask. I posted the email below:

Hi Tori,

I was interviewed by you in September '09, and had been given a nomination for a spot leaving in "mid-June" for Africa to work in health care, which I am extremely excited about.  Since that time I have successfully passed my dental screening (as indicated by the "MyToolkit" resource online). Furthermore, I turned in my medical paperwork on February 2nd, and they notified me that they have received it. almost 2 months later, they have not notified me that they have even looked at it/begun to process it. MyToolkit also indicates that my file is on hold, and my legal status is being reviewed. They first notified me of this nearly 2 months ago as well, and that status has not changed since then. I find this troublesome because I did not foresee any complications with my legal status to serve in the PC.

I have networked with other future volunteers leaving in June/July/August, who are further in the process than I am, and have even gotten invitations already. One girl I talked to told me a story about how when she inquired about her slow medical-clearance process, she discovered that the PC office had lost her medical forms. As it is about 11 weeks away from my supposed departure, I am beginning to worry...

Back in Sept, I arranged for my employment to end in June, and this is still the plan with my employers. I am worried that my departure has been pushed back, and I will have found out too late and will be left unemployed come June. Is there any way I can get a sense of what is going on with my medical/legal clearance? Can you suggest someone I can talk to about the process? I understand that it is necessary for nominees to be patient, but I fear I will be job-less and house-less if PC headquarters and I have different plans for when I'm leaving the country.

My medical clearance "point of contact" has terminated her employment with the peace corps, presumably sometime after my file was assigned to her, so I'm not sure who I can talk to about my concerns.


Thanks, and sorry for the long email,
-Eric Newton

I'm sure she'll get back to me soon. She's really cool, and I can't envision her being okay with someone being left high and dry. I'll post her response once I get it....