Things to remember for your DOT Physical.

1.  You must see a certified doctor listed in the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners NRCME.

It’s the law and all the States are following the new Federal requirements, as far as I know.  if you see a doctor who is not listed in the NRCME a.k.a. ” Not Certified”, your medical examiner’s certificate will be rejected by the DMV and you will have to pay all over again for another exam.   The law went into effect May 21, 2014.  We have seen many drivers in our clinic paying to do it all over again.  We are certified and listed in the NRCME.  Call us at 718-701-5949 to schedule an exam or go to usdotmedicalexaminer.com for more information.

2.  Be prepared, and play it smart so you don’t waste your time!

If you have any medical issues get them under control and come in with any necessary documentation regarding medications or treatments that you are receiving.  For example, if you have a diagnosis of sleep apnea or think you might have it bring in the report from your treating doctor regarding any sleep studies within the last year you’ve had, and documentation of any treatments received. If you are taking certain medication like anti-depressants, blood thinners or others you will need some kind of documentation from your treating doctor indicating why you are on these medications and some kind of clearance letter for commercial driving.  More details can be provided if you call ahead.  Tel. 718-701-5949.

3.  After your physical make sure that you have received a complete and properly filled out Medical Examiner’s Certificate.

Hey, what the ?   You paid for it right.  Congratulations on passing but if you don’t receive a medical card (medical examiner’s certificate) after your exam, then you really paid for nothing.  DMV will not accept the long form (Medical Examiner’s Examination Report Form).  Even if your doctor is certified and performed your exam properly, if you don’t get a certificate you will need to go back to that doctor and ask him or her to issue you one.  If you go to a different doctor then you will have to be re-examined and pay all over again.

4.  Lastly, and probably most importantly don’t forget to submit your Medical Examiner’s Certificate to the DMV.  It’s your responsibility not the doctor’s!  Drivers in our office are always told to submit the MEC to DMV.  For a small fee we can submit it for them if they like.  If you got a letter from DMV requesting a new MEC and do not submit it to them after passing your exam, well that’s like collecting your paycheck from work and never cashing or depositing it.  Your commercial driver’s license will be downgraded.  For whatever reason we sometimes hear from a small minority of drivers (thankfully!), months later who are baffled as to why they received a downgrade letter from DMV even though they came in, passed their dot physical and received a MEC.  Well, if you don’t submit that certificate as requested in the letter from the DMV, it’s like you never had a physical.

p.s. New rules recently went into effect that allows CDL drivers to not have to carry their MEC after 15 days.  ( The rule went into effect at the end of January but was supposed to take effect last January 2014, but was delayed due to various States that were not ready to incorporate this information into their SDLA).  The new rule does not apply to non-CDL drivers who will have to continue to carry their MEC regardless.  In my opinion, you know what, if I were a CDL driver I would still keep my card in my wallet (we all have enough junk in there anyway, so what’s one more thing right?).  Besides, who knows how ready every State, or every inspector will be at every check point, and if their electronic retrieval system or database will always work flawlessly.   (This reminds me of the time I was on spring break from college and ventured out into the Canadian side for some “Molson Golden” while visiting Niagara Falls, and didn’t have my passport to get back to the States.  I think the border guys had a lot of fun making me recite the pledge of allegiance and sorts, while they checked their computer to make sure I wasn’t just trying to defect to the U.S).

On that note, good luck!  Think ahead and follow these simple steps to stay ahead of the game.  Thanks for choosing us for you DOT physical exam.