Aeromedical Risk
On the whole, the FAA looks at your medical risk over the next certification period based on the class of medical you are requesting. This is why sometimes the medical information that the FAA requests deviates from what is clinically indicated in a treatment relationship between a doctor and a patient. Most physicians are treating a condition and not taking a bigger picture view of how it may impact specific aspects of your life.
Health Status and Aviation Safety
Meanwhile, the FAA specifically wants to know how your health status may impact aviation safety. These safety-focused questions generally take the form of assessments for potential sudden or insidious incapacitation while flying. This is the rationale for the mandated disqualifying conditions.
The rationale goes further to assess for other medical conditions that can result in incapacitation. Certain medications and many other diagnoses have the potential to cause incapacitation. The entire purpose of the FAA medical certification exam is to serve as a risk screening tool.
Separating Your FAA Medical From Your “Real” Medical
We have heard some variation of this many times: “I tell my AME nothing and I tell my real doctor everything.” The concern of using your regular doctor as your AME seems to be centered around the idea that your regular doctor knows your issues so you can’t hide them like you can if you use an independent AME.
Medical Conditions
The ultimate problem with that mindset will eventually be exposed when – like most of us – you finally develop a medical condition that you can’t hide. The documentation needed to return you to flight for that issue will inevitably shine some light on the other issues that have previously been unreported.
Suddenly you find yourself in a massive hole with the shovel still in your hand. This situation is not impossible to recover from, but it is certainly much more difficult to address historical issues on top of the new concern.
The Better Question
We answer this question with: “Is your doctor a good doctor?” This might be harder to know than you think. As highly qualified doctors and pilots, we can tell fairly quickly from talking with another pilot or doctor if they know their stuff. But it is very hard for us to determine if a general contractor is really good just by speaking to them for a short period. This is because we are pretty ignorant in the area of general contracting.
Choosing The Right Doctor
If your doctor doesn’t follow current practice guidelines, doesn’t take the time to conduct properly for certain conditions, or comes up short in some other way, that’s a good sign they might not know their business as an AME. You also don’t want to use them as your doctor!
On the other hand, if your doctor is good, then they should be taking great care of you. So, if your physician is good and they are also an AME, and they know you are a pilot, then they should be thinking about your FAA medical certificate with every clinical decision.
Recommendation
Overall we recommend that you be honest on your FAA medical certificate application. We also want you to be ready for that exam just as you would for a check ride. That way you can be confident that you will receive your certificate either at the exam or after a quick review from the FAA.
If you combine hiding past things with a lack of preparation then you have cooked up the perfect recipe for a significant delay horror story.
In Conclusion
The FAA is not trying to stop people from flying. We know many of the physicians who work for the FAA in either the Aerospace Medical Certification Division or the Federal Air Surgeon’s office and they work there because they love aviation; certainly not because they hate pilots!
If your doctor is good and happens to be an AME then there is no reason to use a different doctor as your AME. Otherwise, see the AME Doctor Locator.
Also read: Top 10 Ways to Fail Your Next FAA Flight Medical Exam
