Hints for Your FAA Medical Examination and Keeping Your Pilot Medical Certificate

Bring appropriate documentation

You must answer questions about your medical history on the front of the medical certificate application. If you have had medical evaluations or treatment since your last FAA physical examination, bring documentation of the treatment and the resolution of the condition to your FAA medical examination. This may help avoid any delays in issuing a new medical certificate if all aeromedically relevant questions are answered.  For example, if you have had surgery on a knee or an appendix removed or were hospitalized for an infection, the hospital discharge summary and a signed, dated follow-up note from your treating physician indicating you can return to full activity is usually sufficient.   Some conditions, such as cancer, heart disease, neurologic and psychiatric conditions requiring hospitalization require additional documentation and review by the FAA.  In general, the more documentation available, the easier it is to make a favorable certification decision.  Again, submission of complete information to the FAA is CRITICAL to timely certification decisions.

A program instituted by the FAA in 2002, termed "QuickCert" allows AME's to renew Special Issuance medical certificates for 3rd Class privileges only for the following specific medical conditions designated by the FAA:

To be eligible, airmen must bring specific documentation from their treating physicians with a copy of their Special Issuance Authorization letter.  If the documentation reflects they have had no adverse change in their medical condition, the AME may renew the Special Issuance and submit the documentation to the FAA.

Please note:  the FAA article about this program had listed "Diet Controlled Diabetes" as one of the twenty conditions.  This no longer requires a Special Issuance, but the FAA has now included "Diabetes Controlled with Oral Medication" as one of the 20 allowable conditions. The above conditions are the ones that require and are eligible for "AME Assisted Special Issuance."