To obtain an Airman Medical Certification, pilot applicants must arrange and pass a flight physical with an AME (Aeromedical Examiner). Click here to find an AME. First apply online, then schedule a medical exam and if you meet standards you'll be issued your medical certificate. If there are issues or problems, then the applicant may need to get an additional medical workup. This applies to the traditional FAA Medical Certification: Class, 1, 2 or 3...the process is different for FAA BasicMed certification. Click here to see the BasicMed process.
- Medical Application: Complete Items 1-20 (pilot portion) of the Form 8500-8, the FAA Application for Airman Medical Certification. These are the pilot's own statements about his/her medical history entered online through MedXPress. You must do this in advance of seeing the AME.
- Medical Exam: After you electronically submit your application, you will need to schedule an examination with an FAA designated doctor, an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME). Find an appropriate AME and schedule your flight physical within 60 days of entering data through MedXPress, or you'll have to repeat the application. Your AME will review and refine your portion and complete Items 21-64, (the AME exam portion).
- Medical Standards: Legal medical requirements (CFR Part 67).
- Medical Workup: Supplemental Guidelines and Disease Protocols for those pursuing FAA waivers if problems are found.
AME Instructions for the Exam
Airman Medical Exam: Techniques and Qualification Criteria
Insructions for AMEs on Items 21-64
Note: For 1st Portion, See Items 1-20, in Medical Application Section of FAA Form 8500-8
Your AME must personally conduct your physical examination. This section provides guidance that your AME will follow for completion of Items 21-58 of the Application for Airman Medical Certificate, FAA Form 8500-8. Your AME should carefully review your history from MedXPress (Items 1-20) before conducting the physical examination and completing his/her Report of Medical Examination. Your AME will make a note in (a href="https://flightphysical.com/medical-exam/examiner-comments">Item 60 of the FAA Form 8500-8 any condition found in the course of your in office historical review or examination. The AME will list the facts, such as dates, frequency, and severity of occurrence. If the AME cannot resolve the situation, your AME will seek advice from a Regional Flight Surgeon Office . The RFS staff serves as their FAA Aviation Medical Consultant and Supervisor.
Focus on Medical Regulations by Organ System / Body Area | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ITEMS 17b, 18d, 31-34, 50-54. Overview of Eye and Vision portions of History and Exam | ||||
| ITEMS 42-43. Musculoskeletal | ||||
| ITEMS 25-30, 49. Overview of Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) and Hearing Exam | ||||
| ITEMS 18.b, 18.c, 18.g, 18.h, 36-37, 48, 55, 56, 58 Overview of Heart & Lung Items | ||||
| ITEMS 21-24, 44, 60-64 Overview of Admin Items | ||||
| ITEMS 38-39, 41, 57 Gastrointestinal & Genitourinary Items | ||||
| ITEMS 46-47 Neurologic and Psychiatric Items | ||||
| ITEMS 40, 45, 48, 59 Skin, Lymphatics, Miscellaneous | ||||
To grasp the complex FAA Aviation Medical Exam Process, we recommend that Flight Doctors (AMEs) and pilots envision the complex FAA flight physical in phases:
1. Medical Application
Phase 1. Items 1-20 on the application are applicant statements about their medical history. The pilot applicant will register for an online MedXPress account and review the Pilot's Bill of Rights. Once registered and logged in, he/she must answer questions about demographics. Be prepared to give detailed medical data from your personal medical history.
During this application phase, you can save your work periodically if you need to go retrieve medical records or check the doses of your medications. The application is saved for up to 30 days while you are working on it. Once submitted, the application stays on the FAA system for up to 60 days, then it will be deleted. You must see the AME prior to 60 days after final submission. As an applicant, you must agree to release information from the National Driver Register (history about DUI etc). These statements are collected from the pilot applicant during this application phase in advance of the actual AME appointment. Information is collected through a federal web application called MedXpress. FlightPhysical.com maintains a practice page where you can see information about the questions in advance.
2. Medical Exam
Phase 2 is the. AME Physical Exam (items 21-58). This includes a formal validation and review of the first 20 items mentioned above (from the Medical Application) plus items 21-58, the typical clinical exam assessments (height/weight/vision, etc) that are made in the doctor's office. The review (items 59-64) and the physical exam happens in the AME office. This portion includes the review of the medical history entered through MedXPress, a physical exam and final review process.
3. Medical Standards
Phase 3: the metrics. Does this Applicant Meet Standards? The Medical Standards section of FlightPhysical.com web site contains helpful benchmarks and references to the actual medico-legal requirements from Federal Statutes (CFR Part 67) that specify the physical standards that pilots must meet or exceed to be eligible for various classes (1, 2 or 3) of FAA airman medical certification.
4. Additional Medical Workup
Occasionally needed is Phase 4. This is required only if it is unclear whether you don't meet all the initial standards right up front, or if you fail to meet standards but might have a waiverable condition. If you don't immediately qualify--don't despair, the AME may need more clinical information or you may need to apply for a waiver. This section contains FAA guidelines, timelines, disease protocols and follow up studies that might be arranged if a motivated applicant chooses to pursue an FAA waiver despite problems or medical defects. Some of these workups are expensive and unrealistic, so be sure to discuss the feasibility of pursuing a waiver with your AME before spending a lot of time or money. Many of us have various defects, irregularities or warning flags that appear during the initial application or history, so this section if for those of us who aren't medically perfect. All of us at FlightPhysical.com have had to have an "additional workup" at one time or another to pass our medical certifications. FlightPhysical. om aims to help you understand what is needed to gain or regain medical certification after a problem develops.
For example, if you are found to have a color vision defect, you may choose to pursue restricted certification anyway...our Additional Workups Section is where you can get a glimpse of what might be required. Remember, not everyone can safely fly, but today there are deaf pilots, one-eyed pilots, amputee pilots and thousands of other aviators who are legally flying because they were able to prove their capabilities and acquire certification despite initial problems. Sometimes the process of an additional workup is administrative, but occasionally the applicant will need a "Medical Flight Test to prove that they can fly safely. That is covered here as phase 5.
5. Medical Flight Test
The majority of applicants will not need a Medical Flight Test, but the MFT section of our web site explains some of the requirements and helps set expectations in you need this level of follow up to demonstrate your ability to fly safely despite some imperfection of defect.
Our staff of pilots and AMEs is dedicated to helping pilots and doctors understand the complex FAA medical application, physical examination and medical workup required for Airman Medical Certification. Our staff includes professionals who have helped thousands of pilots successfully gain Aviation Medical Certification