FAA Medical Certification

Aviation Medical Examiner (AME)

Dr. Brown wants you to pass your medical exam.

I understand how important flying is to you because I am also a pilot, and I own aircraft. If you encounter any problems, the FAA, your personal physician, and I will work with you to resolve them and get you back in the air.

As a physician and pilot based in Snohomish, I want you to be able to leave my office with your FAA Medical Certificate in hand.

Preparation

Here are some recommendations that will facilitate your FAA medical exam. 

If you follow these suggestions, you will have the best chance of leaving my office with a current FAA Medical Certificate.
If you wear corrective lenses, make sure you bring the most recent lenses to your appointment.

If you have a Special Issuance Medical Certificate, make sure you bring all the required medical reports AND the Special Issuance Letter to your appointment.

Pre-Exam Checklist

Visit MedXPress to Start

One of the first steps is to make sure you go to the FAA website and complete the FAA Form 8500-8.

This form is no longer available in paper format and must be completed and submitted online prior to coming in for the medical exam. It would be very helpful if you could print out the form and bring it to your appointment with me.

For more information, visit the FAA Information page.

Get a Confirmation Number!

You must have a confirmation number when you arrive for your medical exam. Without this number, little else can happen. 

You will receive a Confirmation Number when you "Submit" your 8500-8 Form.

The Confirmation Number will be automatically printed at the bottom of the 8500-8 Form when you print up the submitted form.

Medications

If you are taking any medication, make sure you call Dr. Brown before your exam.

If you are taking an antidepressant such as an SSRI or medication for ADHD (for example, Adderall), do not even start working on the FAA Form until you speak with Dr. Brown.

(Call the Office number at
(360) 568-1541 #3 for his cell phone)

Medical Conditions

Check the CACI Worksheets if you have one of the 17 medical conditions listed below (or click on the link above to see the FAA site.

Make sure you meet the criteria set forth in the CACI Worksheets.

Have your doctor look it over as well and help you determine whether or not you actually meet the criteria.

(Call the Office number at
(360) 568-1541 #3 for his cell phone)

Information for Pilots

Instructions for completion of Form 8500-8 on the MedXPress

  • 1 Log in to the FAA's website: MedXPress; If this is your first FAA exam, request a new account, then pick up the temporary password at your email and log back in to the MedXPress site.
  • 2 Note that under Item 19 (Visits to Health Professional Within Last 3 Years.), each physician needs to only be listed once; multiple visits to one physician, can be described in the "Remarks" section, for example, "multiple visits for..."
  • 3 Once you've completed the form, you will need to "Submit" it, after which you will be given a Confirmation Number, which is also printed at the bottom of the FAA Form 8500-8.
  • 4 Record the confirmation number, and bring it to your FAA Exam appointment. Not much can happen if you don't have a CONFIRMATION NUMBER.
Passenger Aircraft

BasicMed Option (Not Offered at This Office)

This is a new program written by Congress that allows pilots to fly, with certain restrictions, without obtaining an FAA Medical Certificate.

The program began on May 1, 2017, after which pilots may fly under BasicMed without an FAA Medical Certificate as long as they follow certain rules and restrictions.

The FAA summary page detailing BasicMed can be accessed by clicking the link: BasicMed.

Since BasicMed falls outside the purview of the FAA, BasicMed IS NOT AVAILABLE at this office.

I have included a link below to the FAA Advisory Circular (AC No. 68-1A), which authorizes BasicMed.

CACI - Conditions AMEs Can Issue

There are currently 17 medical conditions whereby an AME may issue medical certificates that previously required an FAA decision.

All 17 CACI Worksheets are available for download below under "CACI Worksheets." You can also find them on the FAA website: CACI.

If you have one of these conditions, you can look at the CACI Worksheet and have your doctor look it over to see if you meet the criteria set forth under each condition. If you meet those conditions, then you can have your doctor complete the "checklist" and sign the form so that you can bring it to the office at the time of your exam.

CACI Conditions

Medical Standards Required for an FAA Medical Certificate

You can read about the synopsis of medical standards required by the FAA: FAA Medical Standards​.

Medical Health Concepts
stethoscope on the Laptop

Medical Certificate Validity

You can review the FAA website for information on the validity or read the summary below:

First Class Medical: Pilots under age 40: Valid for one year; After 1-year Drops to 3rd Class, Valid for 4 additional years as a 3rd Class.

  • Pilots age 40 and older: Valid for 6 months; After 6 months, Class drops from 1st to 2nd Class for 6 months; After 1-year Drops to 3rd Class for 1 year

Second Class Medical: Valid for one year for all ages. After 1 year, drops to 3rd Class for 4 years if under age 40; Age 40 or older after 1-year Drops to 3rd Class for one (1) year.

Third Class Medical: Pilots under age 40: Valid for 5 years (60 calendar months) from the date of the exam.

  • Pilots 40 yrs or older: Valid for 2 years (24 calendar months) from the date of the exam.

You can contact me today to learn more about the medical certification process.

Contact AME

Fifteen (15) CONDITIONS FOR WHICH A MEDICAL CERTIFICATE MUST BE DEFERRED OR DENIED BY THE AME

  • Unless otherwise directed by the FAA, the Examiner must deny or defer if the applicant has a history of any of the conditions listed below.
  • Some of these may be certified under the Special Issuance Program as long as certain conditions set by the FAA are met:
  • 1 Diabetes mellitus, requiring hypoglycemic medication;
  • 2 Angina pectoris; 
  • 3 Coronary heart disease that has been treated or, if untreated that has been symptomatic or clinically significant; 
  • 4 Myocardial infarction;
  • 5 Cardiac valve replacement;
  • 6 Permanent cardiac pacemaker;
  • 7 Heart replacement;
  • 8 Psychosis;
  • 9 Bipolar disorder;
  • 10 A personality disorder that is severe enough to have repeatedly manifested itself through overt acts;
  • 11 Substance dependence; 
  • 12 Substance abuse; 
  • 13 Epilepsy; 
  • 14 Disturbance of consciousness and without satisfactory explanation of the cause;
  • 15 Transient loss of control of nervous system function(s) without satisfactory explanation of the cause;
Find out more from the FAA
Doctor Speaking with Patient
Dog Eat your Medical Certificate?

Have you lost your FAA Medical Certificate?

You can review the FAA website Lost Medical Certificate for information on how to replace your medical certificate or read the summary below:

An airman medical certificate is valid only with the original signature of the AME who performed the examination or digital signature of an authorized FAA physician (e.g., Regional Flight Surgeon, manager of the Aerospace Medical Certification Division, Federal Air Surgeon).

Replace Medical Certificate