How to Fill Out and Submit DD Form 2351: Physician Steps and Waivers

DD Form 2351 is the Report of Medical Examination that a physician completes at your Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board (DoDMERB) physical, documenting whether you meet the medical standards for a U.S. service academy, ROTC scholarship, or the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.¹ You do not fill it out. The examining doctor does. Your responsibilities sit on either side of the appointment: complete your medical history online beforehand, arrive prepared, and track your status in the applicant portal after.

Who Fills Out the Form and Who Doesn’t

The form itself has a short applicant data section at the top — items 1 through 9 — where you write your name, Social Security Number, date of birth, age, sex, and address. Providing your SSN is technically voluntary, but the form warns that withholding it “will impede the selection process and hamper your candidacy,” so in practice it is required.² Everything after that belongs to the examiner, and the examining facility submits the completed form electronically through DoDMERB. You never mail or upload it yourself.

Your medical history does not live on this form. It goes on a separate document, DD Form 2492, which you complete through the DMACS (Defense Medical Accession Compliance System) applicant portal at ready2serve.dmacs.health.mil before any exam is scheduled.³

What the Physician Records on DD Form 2351

The physical exam itself is short, roughly 15 minutes. In that time the examiner records your height, weight, blood pressure, and pulse, and works through a head-to-toe clinical evaluation covering the head, face, and neck; nose and sinuses; ears; eyes; lungs and chest; heart; vascular system; abdomen; spine and musculoskeletal system; extremities and feet; skin; neurologic function; and a psychiatric screen. Each area is marked normal or abnormal, and any abnormal finding must be described in the notes section with the corresponding item number so DoDMERB reviewers can cross-reference it.⁴

Vision and hearing get extensive attention. The form covers distant and near acuity, refraction, color vision (tested with pseudoisochromatic plates), depth perception, convergence, and ocular motility. Hearing is tested with a pure-tone audiometer across multiple frequencies, and a urinalysis result is entered as well.² If a physician assistant or nurse practitioner performed the exam, a physician (MD or DO) still validates the findings with a second signature.

Note that vision is a separate appointment. DoDMERB requires two exams, typically at different facilities: the physical and an optometry examination.

What You Do Before the Appointment

Start with the medical history in DMACS. Once you submit it, the CIV Team — the contractor that manages DoDMERB scheduling — will reach out up to four times over 45 days to help you book both the physical and the optometry exam. You schedule through the DoDMETS website at dodmets.com, which also tracks your medical requirements.¹ The CIV Team’s number is (215) 587-9600, and if you ever need to reschedule, you have to cancel through DoDMETS, call the provider’s office directly, and call the CIV Team. Skipping any of those three steps can leave a phantom appointment in the system.

What to Bring

Arriving unprepared is the most common reason a candidate ends up with a follow-up visit that adds weeks to the timeline. Bring:

A hard copy of your completed DD Form 2492 medical history, saved as a PDF from DMACS before you leave the house.
Your prescription medications — the actual bottles or a written list including dosage.
Both your contact lenses and any glasses you wear, even if you only use one type regularly.
A government-issued photo ID matching the name on your application.
Records for any surgery, broken bone, or chronic condition you have seen a specialist for. DoDMERB frequently issues remedial requests for documentation you could have handed over on the spot.

You will provide a urine specimen at the physical. Avoid strenuous exercise, caffeine, and nicotine for at least 30 minutes beforehand. All three temporarily raise blood pressure and heart rate, and a reading above 140/90 or a pulse above 100 triggers a mandatory re-test.²

What DoDMERB Is Checking For

Your results are evaluated against DoDI 6130.03, Volume 1, the medical accession standards for all branches.⁵ A few conditions produce most of the disqualifications, and knowing the thresholds helps you gauge where you stand.

Vision

Distant vision must correct to at least 20/40 in each eye, and near vision to at least 20/40 in the better eye. Refractive error beyond -8.00 or +8.00 diopters, or astigmatism above 3.00 diopters, is disqualifying. Refractive surgery such as LASIK or PRK can also disqualify unless it was performed more than 180 days before the DoDMERB exam and certain preoperative criteria are met. Color vision standards vary by branch, so a failed Ishihara plate test is not always final.

Hearing and Asthma

Hearing loss above specified thresholds at lower and mid-range frequencies is disqualifying, and any history of hearing aid use is independently disqualifying. On the respiratory side, any history of asthma, reactive airway disease, or exercise-induced bronchospasm after your 13th birthday is disqualifying, including use of inhalers, oral corticosteroids, or leukotriene medications after age 13.⁶ Childhood asthma that resolved before 13 with no medication use afterward generally does not disqualify.

Orthopedic, Skin, and Allergy Issues

Un-united fractures, joint instability, retained surgical hardware, and severe scoliosis are disqualifying. A prior ACL reconstruction is technically disqualifying but is one of the more commonly waivable orthopedic conditions. Food allergies causing anaphylaxis, chronic skin conditions like psoriasis or eczema, active orthodontic treatment (braces must be off before entry, retainers are fine), and unresolved bedwetting can all result in a “does not meet standards” finding.⁷

Mental Health and ADHD

ADHD is disqualifying if you were prescribed ADHD medication within the past 24 months, had an IEP or 504 Plan after your 14th birthday, have a history of a co-occurring mental health condition, or have documented adverse academic or work performance related to ADHD.⁶ For anxiety and depression, outpatient counseling lasting more than 12 cumulative months is disqualifying, as is any treatment or symptoms within the previous 36 months, any recurrence, any inpatient or residential treatment, or any history of suicidality. Any prior psychiatric hospitalization is a permanent disqualifier with no exception for voluntary admission.

Do not try to conceal a history. DoDMERB cross-references pharmacy databases and medical records, and an undisclosed condition discovered later can end a military career far more permanently than a waivable disqualification would.

After the Form Is Submitted

Once the examining facility uploads DD Form 2351 and your optometry report, DoDMERB reviews the package and assigns one of three statuses in DMACS:³

Meets medical accession standards (Qualified). You cleared all requirements.
Remedial. DoDMERB needs more data — a follow-up test, prior medical records, or a written questionnaire — before making a determination. Respond promptly. Academy applicants typically face an April deadline to clear all remedials before files are closed.⁸
Does not meet medical accession standards (Disqualified). One or more conditions fell outside the standards, and the waiver process begins.

Portal status can lag behind internal processing by several days, so a short delay between a decision and its appearance in DMACS is normal.

If You Are Disqualified: The Waiver Process

A disqualification is not the end of your candidacy. DoDMERB itself does not grant waivers. That authority belongs to the specific commissioning program you applied to — the academy, ROTC program, or USUHS — whose doctors and specialists review your case individually.⁹

Your exam results and any records DoDMERB has collected are forwarded automatically to each program you applied to. If the waiver authority wants more information, the request appears in your DMACS portal and by email, and you can also upload records, test results, or physician notes proactively through the portal at any time.⁹ Each program notifies you of its decision independently, usually by letter. The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy is an exception, posting decisions to its admissions portal and the DoDMERB website rather than sending a separate letter.³

Waiver timelines vary widely. DoDMERB’s own guidance notes that you will not hear from the board during this period unless the waiver authority requests more medical information or issues a final decision. Some conditions, like a fully recovered ACL repair, are waived routinely. Others, like unresolved psychiatric diagnoses or active medication for a disqualifying condition, rarely are. If you applied to multiple programs, each makes its own call, so you can be waived by one branch and denied by another.

1
DoDMETS. Department of Defense Medical Exam Testing System
2
Department of Defense. DD Form 2351 – Report of Medical Examination
3
Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board (DoDMERB). DoDMERB Applicant Reference Guide
4
Department of Defense. DD Form 2351 – Report of Medical Examination
5
Department of Defense. DoD Instruction 6130.03 Volume 1 – Medical Standards for Military Service: Appointment, Enlistment, or Induction
6
Department of Defense. DoD Instruction 6130.03 Volume 1
7
U.S. Air Force Academy. Disqualifications – Medical Requirements
8
West Point Admissions. Field Force Training: Medical
9
Defense Health Agency. Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board