Medical Affairs (MA) is responsible for ensuring all commissioned officers of the USPHS are physically and mentally fit to perform the duties of their office, rank, and category. All officers are expected to perform at satisfactory levels in spite of medical conditions acquired while on active duty. When a decline in an officer’s performance is considered possibly related to a med-ical condition, or if an officer’s medical status is deemed questionable for continuance on active duty, a fitness-for-duty (FFD) evaluation can be requested.

An FFD evaluation can be initiated in one of three ways. First, an officer can contact MA in writing if they feel they are unable to perform the duties due to medical reasons. Second, the Program Official (Supervisor) can request an FFD by contacting MA and providing a written de-scription of an officer’s limitations when their inability to perform their duties is suspected to result from a medical condition(s). Third, the Director, Division of Commissioned Corps Per-sonnel and Readiness (DCCPR) may initiate an FFD evaluation if made aware of excessive sick leave use (i.e. 90 days consecutive or 120 non-consecutive during a 12 month period) or a medi-cal condition that either may be disabling or places the officer and others in jeopardy if the of-ficer continues to serve on active duty.

Upon receipt of a written request for a FFD evaluation, MA will contact the officer and request the officer’s past three years of medical records (including mental health), a signed “Consent for Release of Medical Information” form, a complete list of current medications, a brief narrative from all health care providers summarizing diagnoses, management of condition(s) and prognoses and a written statement from the officer giving their perspective of the impact their condition(s) has on their performance. Requests for these data by MA are directives; failure to comply may result in referral to DCCPR for disciplinary action.

Once all requested documents and testing are completed, a Medical Review Board (MRB) will be convened. The MRB consists of three senior-ranking, practicing clinical Corps Officers. The MRB will assess the officer’s FFD and provide an opinion to the Office of the Surgeon General for final determination. The three opinions available to the board are Fit-For-Full-Duty (FFFD), Fit-For-Limited-Duties (FFLD) or Not-Fit-For-Duty (NFFD). The NFFD option may result in the officer’s placement on the Temporary Disabled Retired List if the officer is expected to re-turn to full duty within 5 years, or the Permanent Disabled Retired List if the officer cannot re-turn to full duty.

If you have any additional questions about the FFD process or need assistance, please contact the MA Senior Medical Evaluations Officer, CAPT Bernard Parker by calling 301-427-3245 or sending an email to Bernard.Parker@hhs.gov .