Article: 862 of rec.aviation.student Newsgroups: rec.aviation.student Path: newshost.ncd.com!ncd.com!olivea!uunet!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ames!sgi!rigden.wpd.sgi.com!rpw3 From: rpw3@rigden.wpd.sgi.com (Rob Warnock) Subject: Re: 3d Class Medical Message-ID: Sender: rpw3@rigden.wpd.sgi.com Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc. Mountain View, CA Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1993 07:46:51 GMT Lines: 151 ghall@hebron.connected.com (Glenna Hall) writes: +--------------- | Help, someone! ... I took my medical early on, since I didn't want to | run into any problems. The AME I saw was a cardiologist. He thought I | was fine, and issued me a student license and certificate. I am taking | medication for moderate hyper-tension, which he knew and said would be OK. | This was over a month ago. I've been proceeding along on the assumption | I had no medical certification problems. +--------------- Be calm. I have just gone through exactly the same thing, except that my AME asked for a letter from my normal doctor before the exam (which I brought with me to the exam), and said that he would pass it on to the FAA (my AME did not issue me a medical certificate, even though I passed the exam, since he knew I'd need an FAA waiver for the blood-pressure medication). He said that the FAA would issue me the waiver and my medical certificate directly from Oklahoma City "in 3-4 weeks". Instead, a very similar ominous letter arrived, in just under 4 weeks. +--------------- | I got home from work today, and found a letter from the FAA saying they | are "unable to establish my eligibility to hold an airman medical certificate | at this time." They want a whole bunch of tests, most of which I happen | to have currently (but not an EKG, which they also want). To the best of | my knowledge, I am in fine shape (despite not being young), but I am | extremely alarmed. +--------------- Again, be calm. EXACTLY the same thing happened to me! Notice that they don't say they are denying your application, just that they are "unable to establish [your] eligibility" based on the information they have "at this time". So give them the information they're asking for -- EXACTLY the information they're asking for. In my case, they wanted a full evaluation by my doctor, a current EKG, current blood tests for a bunch of stuff (potassium, cholesterol, etc.), family history (if any) of heart disease, etc. +--------------- | I have a bunch of questions. First, do I have to get all this stuff done over | by an AME? Should I go back to the same guy I went to in the first place? +--------------- Not necessarily. Your normal family doctor can do it. Show your doctor the FAA letter, so he/she can put their comments in approved doctor-speak. And don't be upset if your doctor's letter *sounds* rather negative -- sometimes doctor-speak is like that. For example, the FAA says to "list risk factors of coronary heart disease". Well, in medical terms, there are a specific set of standard "risk factors", which your doctor should enumerate, together with their applicability to you (or not). For example, being male is a known risk factor for coronary heart disease, and I am male, so my doctor had to list that (no joke). Having high blood pressure is a risk factor, so they have to list that. And so on. The fact that you have one or more "risk factors" does not necessarily mean you can't get a medical certificate. But they *do* want enough information to know that the risk is acceptable. +--------------- | Or can I use existing medical records? Can I have any remaining stuff | done by my own Doc? +--------------- Look at the FAA letter again. It probably says something about "current" being defined as "within the last six months". My doctor and I groaned when we looked at my chart, since we had done *ALL* of the required tests 6 months and 2 weeks before... O.k., so they all had to be done again. +--------------- | How long will all this take? +--------------- The consultation with your (normal) doctor should take one session; you can probably get all the tests done the same day, except maybe the blood workup which requires fasting levels [check your FAA letter]. Of course, if you tell your doctor this when you call for the appointment, you can fast the night before (usually "fast" == no food after 8pm, 6pm?) and do the whole thing in one day. It will usually take your doctor another 1-3 days to get the lab results back and write the letter to the FAA. (Remember to ask him to make a copy of the letter for you.) +--------------- | Will this halt my training for months? +--------------- For me, it took only another two weeks before my medical certificate arrived in the mail. The total delay in soloing was just under 6 weeks (which I could have completely overlapped if I'd applied when I *started* flight training!). +--------------- | Is there any expedited process? +--------------- Not at this point (that I know of). But in my case, there didn't seem to be any need for expediting. Provided you and your doctor provide EXACTLY what the FAA is asking for, it should be fine. After all, your AME passed you, yes? He wouldn't have done that if he thought you were a risk. +--------------- | Is there anyone I can call for information? +--------------- Several people suggested calling AOPA. (I didn't.) +--------------- | Is there any way I can keep going (including the solo) till this is | cleared up? +--------------- YOU CANNOT SOLO until you get your medical certificate, but you can certainly keep on going dual. Just keep working on your airwork, precision in landings, handling ATC on the radio, etc. You can even go ahead with stuff like starting to prepare for your cross-country solos, do some early dual cross-country. I had 45+ hours when I solo'd. It wasn't wasted. (Except that soloing was a bit bland by that time. ;-} ) +--------------- | Should I bother taking the written? Is the whole deal completely shot? | The letter did say "Please note that your medical certificate has not | been denied at this time." Is that just soft soap? +--------------- No, not at all. You should read what it says quite literally. "You sent us some information. Based on that information, we can't give you a certificate. Send us this other information: {laundry list}." So send it to them. +--------------- | Shouldn't the AME have given me some hint this might happen? +--------------- Yeah, probably. From talking to several other pilot friends, it seems that some AMEs may not be completely familiar with the medical waiver process, while others know how to "grease the skids". As long as you really are not going to be a hazard in the sky, you can get a waiver for almost anything. But you have to ask for the waiver (sort of like asking for SVFR ;-} ), and you have to document your actual condition pretty thoroughly. Again, don't worry. Things are probably fine. Just turn the paperwork crank... -Rob ----- Rob Warnock, MS-9U/510 rpw3@sgi.com Silicon Graphics, Inc. (415)390-1673 2011 N. Shoreline Blvd. Mountain View, CA 94043