Military healthcare professional gets unjustly denied leave, uses his medical expertise to still get a paid day off: ‘We’ll see who wins this game’

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Feb 24, 2025 6:00 PM EST

Remember when you were little and you would fake sick to get out of going to school? You would sneak a heating pad on your forehead, or put it close to your lamp. You'd wail and moan about your stomach hurting. You'd fake some coughing and sneezing. And maybe if you were really good, you'd fake some upchucking. It was truly an art form. It's always been looked down upon from your educators, parents, and other authority figures. But little did they know, you could use that talent when you got older—especially, if you went into the medical field. 

 

You can see faking sick as a kid coming in handy with this Reddit thread! A healthcare professional who worked for the military did some medical work on the side, which was totally acceptable. He would submit leave and take a day to get some extra cash. Smart, really. However, this time he had a new first sergeant that didn't like his "moonlighting" work. So when he submitted to get a day of leave so he could go make some good money, he was denied. Unjustly, according to him! So, instead of taking the L, he put his medical expertise to work… 

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    He did the age ole trick of faking sick but turned up to a whole new level. If he was just some random dude trying to convince an emergency room of medical professionals that he was sick, he probably would've had a much harder time. But since he too works in the field, he was able to feed them exactly what they wanted. Thus, producing him with the doctors note he needed for a paid sick day off (aka going to make that extra cash).

  • "Deny my leave, we’ll see who wins this game"

    This was a few years back when I was active duty military. Officer in the healthcare side of things. Overall loved my time in, but the beauracy of a huge organization like the military eventually wore on me.
    via StatusTap5615
  • As a healthcare professional I would often use my days off to "moonlight" or work in private practice since the money is way better. This is perfectly acceptable in the military and most providers do. There's some hoops you have to jump through but most commanders are fine with it. They often do it themselves.
    via StatusTap5615
  • Unfortunately, people come and go and we ended up with a first sergeant that liked to stick it to the officers whenever he could. So there was a time that I submitted leave for a day I was supposed to work in private practice and he denied the day off on a technicality. I don't remember what it was, maybe I submitted a day late or something like that. I wasn't going to let this stop me though.
    via StatusTap5615
  • I quickly reviewed our sick call policy and made sure to download a copy of it. Officers were treated with quite a bit of leniency and there was no requirement to report to work or submit a doctor's note unless you were out for 3 days or more. This was what the policy stated. Also important is that this was the experience of every other officer in the unit. No one did anything more than call in sick if they were to miss a day.
    via StatusTap5615
  • Kestner, M.D. P
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  • So the day that I requested off rolls around and I unfortunately development the sniffles and called in sick. First sergeant is not happy and he tells me to report to sick call and submit a doctors note. I told him sure, just show me the policy that says I have to do that. We went back and forth on this all morning while I was working at the private practice. He kept reiterating that I
    via StatusTap5615
  • needed I note, I kept telling him that I feel he's unfairly targeting me in a way that other officers have not been. He finally came back with "the commander says you need a doctors note, so you need one." This was not something I could argue with, at least not in the moment. In the military if the commander says to do something you pretty much have to do it.
    via StatusTap5615
  • Cue malicious compliance... due to a weird quirk, my private practice office and house is an hour from the base I work at. There is however a base in the town where I live too. I had previously been stationed there but got moved down the road and didn't want to move the family so I just decided to commute. So rather then drive all the way to base where I work, I devise a plan to go to the one more local to me.
    via StatusTap5615
  • By this time it's close to lunch and I have about an hour before my next patients at the private practice. So I quickly drive to the hospital ER and as I'm walking in I start to convince myself of how "sick" i feel. By the time I walk through the doors and check in I've got a pretty good show going and tell reception that I've been throwing up all morning and can't keep anything down. Nurse says "yea you don't look too good" which I'm not sure how to take.
    via StatusTap5615
  • Cheezburger Image 10471416832
    via Unsplash+ (and Ahmed)

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  • Provider sees me quickly and diagnoses a stomach virus. Asks me why I came in for it and I day commander made me for the note. He's irritated by that but used to it. I'm about to be let go when he decides since I've been throwing up he should get some fluids in me and orders an IV. I glance at my watch and I have about 30 minutes left in my lunch. And with the busy morning I hadn't kept up on my fluid intake so I figure, why not. So
    via StatusTap5615
  • they hook up the IV and I chill on my phone for the next 20 minutes getting nice and hydrated. Unfortunately my lunch was almost over and the bag is only about half empty. Cut to me unhooking the bag and squeezing the remainder in to the sink. Hooked it back up. Nurse comes in and sees it's empty and I'm on my way. Doctor's note in hand, nice and hydrated and in plenty of time to finish my schedule of patients after lunch.
    via StatusTap5615
  • ZenEngineer I'm surprised the doctor didn't give you a note for the whole week. That's usually what happens in those cases Adskatchem003 Yup that's what I would normally end up doing if my employer insisted on a doctors note. My one day off became 3 real quick.
    via ZenEngineer
  • gadget850 LOL. I was a senior NCO in headquarters platoon, so there were a bunch of Soldiers I didn't know and did not work for me. First sergeant grabbed me one morning and told me about two young Soldiers who went on sick call every Monday for diarrhea and got quarters. We both knew these rocket surgeons were drinking all weekend and sleeping it off on Monday. I knew the PA at the aid station some we had a little chat. He looked at the logbook and saw the pattern. He told me he would take care
    via gadget850
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    via Unsplash+ (and Online Marketing)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • labdsknechtpiraten I was in the US army at the height of dumb_uckery for leave (as in, I went to Iraq the 2nd time during the Surge). The only "control" my 1SGs ever exerted over leave, which was always block leave, unless it was mid-tour or emergency leave, was to ensure that all the bulls "requirements" (which weren't in the regs) were present and that soldier was of "good standing" with the unit. Basically, top
    via labdsknechtpiraten
  • reviewed whether you had attached your accommodation plans, driving plan, vehicle inspection worksheets, risk assessment, proof of "AT lvl 1" training, proof of suicide awareness and SHARP training was up to date. Lol, so much dumb sh when really, by regs the only requirement was the DA 31.
    via labdsknechtpiraten
  • Illuminatus-Prime When I, as a lowly E5 (ET2) standing brow watch on a Friday night because some ROTC butter-bar did not like the cut of my jib, can refuse to allow that same butter-bar to leave the ship because his haircut was not to regulation length AFTER the ship's barber had already gone ashore, AND have the OOD (EMC) back me up 100%, you damned well better believe that there are certain situations -- though rare when an enlisted can say 'No' to -- an officer, have it stick, and leave no re
    via Illuminatus-Prime

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