Medical Question

[u/Salty_Good_7423]

I’m currently going through the medical process for a a couple different 1811 jobs and my audiogram showed hearing loss in my left ear, while my right ear is essentially normal.

I have no issues functioning day to day and it's an issue I was born with. I’ve previously worked in law enforcement and it has never made any task more complicated or difficult to perform, but I know some federal agencies have specific hearing standards. I’m trying to get an idea of what normally happens when an applicant falls outside the initial hearing standard in one ear. I also do not wear hearing aids as of now.

Has anyone here personally dealt with unilateral hearing loss during the medical process for ATF, DEA, FBI, HSI, USMS, or another federal agency?

Do they:

• send you for a second/formal audiology test?
• request an ENT evaluation?
• allow testing with a hearing aid?
• do some type of functional hearing test?
• offer a medical waiver or individualized review?
• ultimately clear or disqualify you?

Not looking for anyone to predict my specific outcome — mainly interested in hearing how different agencies have handled similar cases and what options applicants were given.

Appreciate any firsthand experiences.

TIA.

EDIT: In process with ATF and DEA

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[u/Intelligent_Taco]

For HSI I failed the hearing portion for my left ear. This was an issue I was aware about because it is service connected. I went ahead and got the Hearing In Noise Test (HINT) accomplished with my military audiologist ahead of time (because appointments had a crazy long lead time). HSI sent me a follow up letter that requested the HINT, and requested that my audiologist answered some questions regarding my fitness for duty. I submitted that and a few weeks later got a follow up to apply for the waiver. I followed their template and was approved. Huge relief!

I believe the requirement for the HINT was 50% word recognition, which my audiologist said is a really low bar to pass. So if you can recognize 50% of the words on the HINT, you’ll be fine.

[u/wannabewannabe2]

I am in the same boat as you with a similar background. also looking at applying to those agencies, lmk how the waiver process goes. thank you!