Medical check

You are fit to work with a pacemaker in a bank

by Gemita - 2021-01-17 07:59:10

https://www.pacemakerclub.com/message/10138/military

I attach a link Omar which might be helpful.  

For the military, strict medical requirements will obviously be necessary because of the nature of military service.  However to work in a bank, providing the pacemaker has corrected say a problem like syncope, like heart block, like bradycardia or treated any other condition which could make it unsafe for you to work, then I see absolutely no reason why a pacemaker should affect your ability to work.  It is clearly not seen as a disability, preventing us from working.

I would go to the medical check though with a supporting letter from your Cardiologist/EP to confirm your fitness to work, explaining your condition clearly and what the pacemaker is able to do for you and any medication you may be taking.  Once the bank's medical team see that you are safe to hold down a job, there should be no difficulty.

Good luck and I wish you every success in any future post

Ok

by Omar - 2021-01-17 08:06:54

Thank you so much 

Fit for work

by AgentX86 - 2021-01-17 13:29:25

The military often won't let allow those with eyeglasses or who, are colorblind, or even fallen arches to serve. I doubt a bank would have a problem with any of the above. What makes a pacemaker so special.  OTOH, I wouldn't tell my employer. It's none of his business unless it would directly affect your performance.

Why the need to disclose

by Persephone - 2021-01-17 13:49:12

Agree with Agent...why disclose a personal issue not related to your job requirements?  Did the employer provide any details on what the "medical check" consists of?  Is it maybe simply testing for drug use?

Medical check subject

by Omar - 2021-01-17 16:19:01

They need drug and alcohol check from blood samples plus ECG and Echocardiography and chest CT scan so it will appear that I have a pacemaker otherwise I wouldn't have told them as it's clearly won't affect my performance and non if their business 

What sort of bank is this?

by crustyg - 2021-01-17 17:55:11

Drugs of abuse, makes sense (although it's usually *much* easier to track in urine, but does force them to require a directly observed sample and even that can be faked), ECG ditto.  Echo and Chest-CT - crazy.  The radiation dose alone from a chest-CT is considerable.  Is that a high resolution chest-CT? Even higher.

Nuts to that.  There's no possible justification for that or an echo.  A prospective employer would learn more from a gym bleep-test (running) - cheap, non-invasive and very informative.

Perhaps if it's the National Bank they might be looking for illicit implanted devices, but that's becoming a little Mission Impossible and a plain CXR and Abdo would make more sense and use a *lot* less radiation.

I've recently been through the prospective employee ritual humiliation but this - for me - would be a step too far.

ECG and Echocardiography and chest CT

by AgentX86 - 2021-01-17 18:20:30

That would be a red flag for me.  Why in bloody hell would a bank need this information?  What else are they going to require of employees?  Weekly strip searches? Hard pass.

I would try to turn this to your advantage

by Gemita - 2021-01-18 04:36:38

Hello Omar,

I wish you lots of luck as you move forward.  I would try to turn all the hurdles you have to jump through into something positive.  If you really have to go through all those tests to secure a post in Egypt, I would try to ask for copies of any results for your own records, even if you have to offer to pay for this, so whatever the outcome of your job interview at the current bank, you will have gained something positive and will hopefully not need to repeat these tests again in the near future.  I would also be well ahead of the game and get a letter from your cardiologist/EP/general doctor comfirming your fitness to work and other supporting details.  It sounds as though you may well need this sort of detailed information to secure any future post.

Have you already had an initial interview at the bank Omar ?  Have you perhaps already been offered the position, pending a favourable medical outcome?  I recall I had to go through a similar stringent medical check once here in the UK to satisfy the medical team of a multi national company.  But it turned out well and I hope it will be the same for you too.

Yes

by Omar - 2021-01-18 06:24:02

Yes I've been through all sort of interviews and I've been offered the job they just need medical check results and I will be starting soon if it was ok and having a letter from the EP wouldn't be necessary I guess cuz the bank is directly dealing with the lab so that would be considered as an external party and not valid.

Good news so far then Omar

by Gemita - 2021-01-18 06:36:33

Were there many candidates going for the same job do you know?  I hope it all goes smoothly from now on and that you will enjoy your first challenge

Thanks!!

by Omar - 2021-01-18 07:06:02

Idk about candidates actually everything was online but Thank you Gemita wish you all the best 

Work for a bank with a pacemaker

by amanda_shanti - 2021-01-18 11:21:42

I work at a bank and I have a pacemaker. However, it's a bit different from you, I work for the bank 20+ now and had my pacemaker implanted just 2 months ago. So, it's not a pre-exist condition when I applied for my job. I have no problem with my work and there is no different before/after the implantation.

There are lot of different types of position in a bank, I'm not sure which type of work you do in the bank. As long as your bank position is desk-base, I don't see any problems.

For the medical check, maybe it's for the medical insurance reason? My company provides us a quite comprehensive insurance coverage, as I recalled they did asked me to fill out a medical history form when I signed my employment contract. But, no physical check up is required.

As for my medical condition, I did let my manager and couple of my teammates knew my conditions. Just in case anything happened (touch wood), they knew my condition and where to find my medical/pacemaker ID.

Interesting thread

by AgentX86 - 2021-01-18 13:58:44

More interesting than the answers to the original question are the differences in customs around the world.  Here in the US, for example, it would be illegal for an employer to even ask about medical history unless it were pertenent to the job.  A blind pilot isn't going to fly (pun intended).  Drug tests are considered pertenent but that's not really history.

Group plan insurers, as long as coverage is continuous, don't take pre-existing conditions into account.  They set rates based on the group's history not on individuals in the group.

Anyway, this is one case where you really have to look in the bio to see where people live.  One size doesn't fit all.

Differences

by amanda_shanti - 2021-01-18 23:58:07

AgentX86 - I agreed there are differences in different places/countries. It's more than two decades ago when I joined the bank. Even in the same place, at that moment of time, regulation/law about privacy may not be the same as now.

In my city, people concerns about their privacy more and more nowadays. Maybe one day, the privacy restrictions may as strong as U.S.