nypd application process

[beemer]

Hello Everyone,

This is my first time using a forum and I have a few questions I hope someone can help me out with. I have been employed as a BMW technician for the last 10 years and I am looking to change careers. I went back to school to earn my Associates degree in law enforcement and just received the degree a couple months ago. I am 30 years old and have completed over 250 hours of ride along hours with several different police departments. I have been trying very hard for the last year and a half to get a job but have been getting rejected very late in the process. I just took the nypd exam and got a 91.7 on the written test. My main concern is that I was born with a heart murmur. I have never had any chest pain or had to take any type of medication for my murmur. Within the last year I had an EKG and visited a heart spealist because a department I was previously applying with wanted me to take one. The tests showed I had a heart murmur but they said it is very minor and I was have no restrictions with strenous activites. I have documentation stating so. Is this a permanent disqualification for nypd?

Any information from investigators or nypd officers would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Joeyd6]

In short...NO!

When you start processing with the NYPD, go to your doctor AGAIN and get a current EKG and letter from the doctor written to the NYPD stating the diagnosis and that you have no recent/ongoing treatment or restrictions.

That way when they do the EKG and flag you, instead of them placing you on "hold" and forwarding the file for review, and waiting for them to send you to an expert, and waiting, you can hand them the letter right away and the doc there that day can see the letter and EKG and take you immediately off hold.

It is not a DQ and if you go in prepared, it is easy. Good luck!

[retdetsgt]

It is not a DQ and if you go in prepared, it is easy. Good luck!

Wow, here it would be a DQ. Any heart problem arising after being hired is considered an on the job disability, therefore we screen out anyone with the slightest heart issue. And we don't take the word of anyone's personal physician either, a note from your doctor carries about as much weight as a note from your mother. We would send him to our own cardiologist and he would make the determination.

When I was hired, I was sent to three doctors, an internal medicine guy, a orthopedic surgeon and a cardiologist. I think I was in the cardiologist's office longer than the first two combined. He ran me through all sorts of stress tests. I know several people were washed out by heart issues they never knew they had before.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

RDS - I think that's the point of providing the EKG charts on the day of the physical. So their physician can make a determination without the red tape of waiting, scheduling, re-testing, etc. While it may be possible the OP needs to still undergo further testing, it'd sure be nice if he can skip all that because he was prepared.

[retdetsgt]

RDS - I think that's the point of providing the EKG charts on the day of the physical. So their physician can make a determination without the red tape of waiting, scheduling, re-testing, etc. While it may be possible the OP needs to still undergo further testing, it'd sure be nice if he can skip all that because he was prepared.

We're not going to buy anything the person brings in. How would we know that's not an EKG of his brother or someone? It's too expensive to hire someone who may well have a heart attack and take a medical retirement. It's cheaper in the long run to have out MD start from scratch.

When I was diagnosed with emphysema and my own specialist said it was from drug labs, I still had to go to the department's physician. He did get the test results directly from my doctor, but he wouldn't have accepted anything I hand delivered. He also conducted some more of his own to verify.

In a case like this, the department doctor would probably get the EKG from his physician, but depending on a lot of things, he may also do his own testing if he doesn't know the OP's doctor at least by reputation.

[beemer]

Thanks for all of the replies. HUGE relief. Joeyd6 would I have enough time to schedule another EKG to provide to the doctors if I get a call for medical review? I just took the test July 23rd and some people say its a 2 year wait and some people say my score is high enough to get a call back in a month or so. Im asking because I don't want to schedule a test and then 2 years later i get a call and I have to retest again since they are so expensive.

thanks again for all of the input

[Joeyd6]

There is some confusion that a heart murmur is a "medical" issue or problem with the heart. Its been a while since I played paramedic for money, so let me just give a breakdown. A heart murmur is an extra sound heard as the heart beats. Normally you hear "thump-dump." A person with a heart murmur will have varying sounds but may sound like "thump-dump-swoosh." It is usually from the extra thrust/turbulence of blood flow from one vessel/artery/chamber or valve to another. Most heart murmurs are innocent (medically called benign or normal) and mean nothing. It is like having and extra tooth in your mouth. However, there is a small minority that actually mean there is a problem (flow, still and physiologic), which restrict activity and require treatment.

In most cases, it has absolutely nothing to do with your heart health and does not effect your life. I assume you have the first kind based on what you said. Just like most folks have a dominant hand/arm which is stronger, sometimes people have a stronger vessels/arteries/valves than another.

How would we know that's not an EKG of his brother or someone?

EKG's now a day come with the persons name, DOB, SS and are digital. The print out has that info, and is accompanied by a letter from the doctor with all the required readings and interpretation. The doctor then signs under the penalty of of perjury he is providing the info to the NYPD for certification for hiring purposes. No doc is going to risk their license writing a fake letter and running a fake or substitute test. There are only so many cardiologists in the area and the NYPD docs all know them and they do have ways to verify the records submitted. Plus, everyones EKG is like a fingerprint. Considering the NYPD take one anyways, they can see if the one they took matches what your doc did.

The NYPD does not have nor hire specialists to test applicants. If you pop during the exam on a issue, you are placed on hold, and advised to go to a private doc to have XYZ done, at your expense, not the city's, and have the info forwarded. Just like if you had knee surgery ten years ago....you better have the surgery records and a letter from an ortho now saying if will be an issue. It is reviewed and determined if you can move ahead.

. Joeyd6 would I have enough time to schedule another EKG to provide to the doctors if I get a call for medical review? I just took the test July 23rd and some people say its a 2 year wait and some people say my score is high enough to get a call back in a month or so. Im asking because I don't want to schedule a test and then 2 years later i get a call and I have to retest again since they are so expensive.

I would wait till they call you for processing for the BI. When they do, make your appointment.

[retdetsgt]

Our specialists take out more people than the internal medicine doc. My old department is death on hearts, backs and knees. If they aren't perfect, you don't get in and we still lose a lot of people on those three.

[marinepilot]

Probably moot at this point, but since this thread doesn't have the least bit about writing a book / screenplay / or any other kind of story, I'm going to move it to the regular Ask-A-Cop section.