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- Travel, PCS and Transportation
- Important Regulation Changes
- Travel & Transportation Entitlements Summary
- Permanent Change of Station (PCS)
- Temporary Duty (TDY)
- Junior COSTEP Travel Information
- Official Travel Forms
- Household Goods Officers
- Transportation
- Government Travel Charge Card
- Table of Frequently Used Acronyms
- Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
- Links
- Travel and Transportation Allowances FAQ
- About Personnel & Career Management
- Awards-Officer Awards Program
- Nominations Procedures and Forms
- Eligibility to Receive Awards
- Approval Levels
- Types of Recognition & Awards Criteria
- Non-PHS Awards
- Write-Up (Narrative) Guidance & Tips
- List of OPDIV Awards Coordinators (PDF, 67kb)
- List of Liaisons (PDF, 266kb)
- 2021 USPHS Awards Process Flowchart (PDF, 702kb)
- FAQs
- COER
- DEERS Information (PDF, 139kb)
- Important Information Regarding DEERS and ID Cards During COVID-19 (PDF, 57kb)
- eCORPS Information
- Education Benefits Overview
- FAQs
- Forms
- Electronic Official Personnel Folder (eOPF)
- eOPF FAQs
- eOPF Status
- FAQs Practice Hours and Special Pay Changes
- Licensure
- Officer Leave and Absence Request FAQ
- Promotions
- Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)
- Veteran Health Administration (VHA) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Practice Hours
- Link to list of Professional Advisory Committee (PAC) Chairs (PDF, 19kb)
- About Policy
- Commissioned Corps Issuance System
- Equal Opportunity
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Political Restrictions
- Promotion Ceremony Protocol (PDF, 126kb)
- SGHG Drill and Ceremonies Manual (PDF, 3.39mb)
- Uniform Specifications
- PHS Hard Shoulder Boards and Sleeve Insignia (Male and Female) (PDF, 828kb)
- PHS Soft Shoulder Marks (Unisex) (PDF, 324kb)
- Medical Requirements for Promotion
- RedDOG Force Readiness Information
- Link to list of Chief Professional Officers (CPO) (PDF, 348kb)
- Link to list of Liaisons (PDF, 266kb)
- Promotion Board Recommendations
- Not promoted? Now What?
- FAQs
- Officer Promotion Packet Verification System (OPPVS) Timeline & FAQs
- Promotion, Readiness and Compliance FAQs
- Permanent Promotion Eligibility Chart
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- Visit CDC.gov for Coronavirus (COVID-19) Public Health Updates
As Public Health Service Officers and America’s Health Responders, we stand ready to preserve public health and national security during national or global health emergencies. Our mission is to be out the door as soon as requested, as this is an “all hands on deck” situation. All Corps officers were placed on involuntary deploy or "alert" status effective Wednesday, March 25, 2020, irrespective of the 'on-call month' status. Under Commissioned Corps Directive 121.02, "Deployment and Readiness," as directed by Assistant Secretary for Health, Commissioned Corps Headquarters will deploy Commissioned Corps officers assigned to HHS OpDivs/StaffDivs, either voluntarily or involuntarily and without supervisory approval, who are not considered mission critical, for deployments, under the current National Emergency. Mission critical requests sent to CCHQ are not final until the request is approved by the CCHQ Director as per the POM 821.76 ”Deployment Procedures”. An officer with a non-HHS organization may be deployed in accordance with the Memorandum of Agreement/Understanding between the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the non-HHS organization.
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Medical Affairs
Frequently Asked Questions
A PHU that is completed every year provides more updated and relevant health information to Commissioned Corps Headquarters (CCHQ) Medical Affairs Branch (MAB) than a five-year physical. MAB is required to maintain updated health information on every officer to support CCHQ’s assessment of officer readiness to deploy, a condition of service.
In contrast to the 5-year physical, which required officers and providers to complete many tests, some of which are now considered less valuable, the PHU is an evaluation tailored to the needs of individual officers. This less prescriptive, patient-centered approach has been endorsed by Military Treatment Facilities and responsible private sector medical providers, and is the right choice for the Commissioned Corps.
No, as a Commissioned Corps officer you must complete and submit an annual PHU.
- You must complete and submit the PHU during your birth month period (the first day of the month preceding the month in which you were born and the last day of the month after the month in which you were born - 3 month window).
- A small number of officers commissioned in 2021 will not have to do a PHU until 2023. Those officers have been contacted by MAB and individual administrative PHU waivers has been entered into the system for 2022.
Newly commissioned officers will get their first PHU during their first birth month period that is at least one year after their accession physical examination and at least six months after they attend Officer Basic Course (or in some circumstances at least six months after commissioning).
Beginning in 2021, your weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) recorded in your PHU on the DD-2808 “Report of Medical Examination” will replace the Annual Physical Fitness Test (APFT) as your official annual weight submission.
If your BMI is over 27.5 kg/m2, your provider or another healthcare provider recommended by your provider must determine your estimated percent body fat by the “taping” method. Those results must be entered on a PHS 7044-1 form and returned with your PHU.
If you BMI is under 19.0 kg/m2 and you do not already have a weight standards waiver, your provider must include a statement in your PHU documenting if you have you any medical or mental health issues contributing to your low weight. If possible, historic weights from your medical record should be included, as well.
For 2022, you can get a “virtual” physical if, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, your provider is not scheduling in-person physicals. You should complete your DD-2807-1 “Report of Medical History” and your PHS-7083, “Behavioral Health Survey” and send them to your provider before your appointment. Your provider must review these documents, add additional information, if necessary, sign both, and return them to you for your submission. You must indicate on the 2022 PHU Submission Checklist what you are and what you are not submitting (e.g. no DD-2808 if you had a virtual physical) and that form must be signed and submitted with your PHU.
The Behavioral Health Survey (PHS-7083) contains four screening surveys that can help identify signs of possible alcohol abuse, depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Similar surveys are being used by the military services.
The Behavioral Health Survey serves two important purposes: (1) The survey can start a conversation with your provider about your mental well-being and (2) The survey provides a baseline survey for comparison with future post-deployment surveys.
The DD-2813, “DoD Active Duty/Reserve/Guard/Civilian Forces Dental Examination” form is much simpler than the PHS-6355 and more appropriate for a routine annual examination.
If you already have a record of your dental examination on a PHS-6355 form, you can submit that form. All new dental exams must be written on the DD-2813 form.
That would be ideal, but MAB will accept a dental examination done up to six months prior to your birth month.
For 2022, MAB will accept a completed form DD-2318 based on a dental examination within one year of your birth month in 2022. If you have not seen a dentist within one year of your birth month due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you are not required to submit a dental examination as part of your 2021 PHU. Be certain to complete and sign the 2022 PHU Submission Checklist and indicate the dental examination, if any, that you are submitting.
The 2022 PHU Submission Checklist is a form that allows you to document what you are submitting in your PHU package. If you were only able to get a “virtual” physical, you need to document that on the form so MAB will not reject your submission as incomplete. You must sign the form to attest to what documents you are or are not submitting and why.
Complete the DD-2807-1, “Report of Medical History”. Also, complete the PHS-7083, “Behavioral Health Survey” as close to your medical appointment as possible. Print both documents as well as a DD-2808, “Report of Medical Examination,” and “PHU Instructions for Healthcare providers.” At the time of your appointment, give all four documents to your provider. All documents needed for your PHU are in a single PDF Portfolio file named PHU Appointment Documents under Forms/Medical on the CCMIS website.
You should get a health screening examination (e.g. cervical, breast, colorectal cancer screening) as recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). The only mandatory tests are your vital signs (blood pressure, pulse, etc.), weight/height, and, if necessary, “taping” to determine estimated percent body fat. The comprehensiveness of your PHU and additional testing is at the recommendations of your provider, however your provider should follow up on your current active health conditions or risks as clinically indicated.
You should be on a regular schedule for your screenings based on the recommendations of USPSTF and your provider. Remain on that schedule and do not delay screening or get screening too early just to align with your PHU. When submitting your PHU, please include the report(s) of your last completed screening test(s).
If test results are not available until after your PHU is due, submit your PHU on time. When the test results are available upload the documentation in a single PDF through eDOC-U using the document name, Medical Records. MAB reviews all documents submitted by officers.
Retirement physical examinations are strongly recommended, but they are not mandatory. Their use is to document the status of all health conditions that you may have developed while in service. As such, if you are going for a retirement examination, ask your provider to complete the DD-2808. Retirement physicals should be uploaded like a PHU.
All components of the PHU (Medical History, Physical Examination, Behavioral Health Survey, Dental Examination, Additional testing, Disclosure form, and 2021 PHU Submission Checklist) must be scanned into a single PDF file and uploaded through the Medical section of eDOC-U using the document name, “Periodic Health Update.” If your upload is rejected, consider scanning your documents at a lower resolution (200 dpi) to decrease the file size.
The links for these forms go directly to the Department of Defense forms site. For some reason, they often do not open properly. Please try the follow:
You must download the form to your compute before you complete the survey. Your responses will then be saved.
The dental portion of the PHU should be completed by your regular dentist. The other sections of the PHU should be completed by one of your regular healthcare providers. It is critical that the provider that completes the PHU have access to your medical records i to verify your medical history. That provider must also be able to follow up any health conditions that are identified in the PHU.
Your PHU cannot be completed by a colleague in a clinic where you work unless that clinic is where you have been authorized by TRICARE/DHA to get your routine care. Your PHU should not be completed by a walk-in clinic or an urgent care center. If you are PCS’ing or have recently PCS’ed, it is your responsibility to obtain your records from your previous providers and give them to your new providers. In these circumstances, you must be proactive in arranging for completion of your PHU on time.