As part of its efforts to help you train with the best, the FDNY has members who strive to help ensure that you are ready to perform at your best. Bureau of Health Services Candidate Coordinator Frank Groce is one of those individuals and he never hesitates to sit down with candidates to assist them as they complete their health screening at our Headquarters in Brooklyn.
Join FDNY: What is your role within the FDNY?
Coordinator Frank Groce helps to educate candidates about the FDNY’s medical screening process when they visit our Bureau of Health Services.
Coordinator Frank Groce: I work in the Bureau of Health Services for the Fitness Qualification Unit. I have worked for the Fire Department for eighteen years and I manage the part of the process that ensures our candidates are fit to continue to the next step in the hiring process. My team processes twenty thousand medicals a year.
JF: What motivates you to serve in this role?
CFG: On September 11th, during the course of my walk to Brooklyn, I saw when the first tower fell. At that very moment, I had an idea how significant that moment that was. I’d come to find out later how many members of service were lost that day from both fire and EMS. This is my way to give back because every day I deal with the membership and I know I am giving back. I dedicate my work here to every one of those members who went up those steps in those towers and made the supreme sacrifice.
JF: Why is the health screening process important?
CFG: We make sure every member of the force is ready to put forth the work necessary to do this job. This process ensures that our men and women are prepared to make it through the training. When the candidates come to see me, I encourage them as best as I can to help them get through this medical screening process. I want them to be prepared for what’s to come and I share the pertinent information that’s needed to help them excel at the career that they love.
JF: What’s some of your greatest highlights?
CFG: We are one of the only city agencies that conducts medicals like this for its membership. My greatest joy is seeing these candidates come through here and when they return after the process, they become men and women in uniform. I get testimonials of people who have come back and spoken to me after their experience here. They express to me how their interaction with me changed their life because they’ve never had anyone around them to encourage them to be better beyond what they’ve seen in their neighborhoods. I take pride in the work we do here because we also assist with the World Trade Center Health Program to help our members. I am a proud advocate for all of those who have served and I help to ensure that they get the medicals and the medication they need.
Candidates: We have a whole section on this website that is dedicated to helping you learn more about your medical exam. To view the information, click here.
