FAA Brochure - Medical Certification Q and A

Medical

Certification

Questions &

Answers• If you have not received communication from

our office within 60 days of your application

submission, please feel free to call us at 405-

954-4821 or write to us at the address listed

below. If your application was deferred, you may

also check the status

through MedXPress.

If my personal physician believes I am

fit to fly, why am I unable to obtain

certification?

If your personal physician believes you are fit to fly,

it is important to understand that their assessment is

primarily focused on your overall health and well-

being. However, the Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA) must ensure compliance with Title 14 CFR Part

67, which governs the medical standards for aviation

safety. Your physician may not fully consider the

specific medical risks and unique demands associated

with operating an aircraft. The FAA’s certification

process is designed to address these aviation-

specific safety concerns and ensure that any medical

conditions do not compromise safe flight operations.

Therefore, even if your personal doctor deems you

healthy, the FAA must ensure that you meet the

required medical standards under this regulation.

OK-24-1154 10/02/2024

Special Delivery/Overnight Mail

Federal Aviation Administration

Aerospace Medical Certification

Division

6500 S. MacArthur Blvd.

CAMI Bldg 13, AAM-300

Oklahoma City, OK 73125

Regular 1st Class Mail

Federal Aviation Administration

Aerospace Medical Certification

Division

CAMI Bldg 13, AAM-300

P .O. Box 25082

Oklahoma City, OK 73125Provided by

Aerospace Medical Education Division, AAM-400

To obtain copies of this brochure online:

https://www.faa.gov/pilots/safety/

pilotsafetybrochures/

or contact:

Federal Aviation Administration

Civil Aerospace Medical Institute

AAM-400

P.O. Box 25082

Oklahoma City, OK 73125

(405) 954-4831

When There Are Questions About Your

Medical Certification Qualifications

A checklist for speeding your medical certification

Most (more than 95%) medical certification applicants

pass their physical examinations, and the Aviation

Medical Examiner (AME) is able to issue a medical

certificate at the time of the exam. However,

occasionally, a condition is found that requires a process

of further review and, possibly, additional testing. The

purpose of this brochure is to help answer some of the

questions that you might have about this process.What are my chances of ultimately

being certified?

While it is impossible to predict your individual

likelihood of certification, our current process allows us

ultimately to certify 96% of individuals whose medical

qualifications are initially questioned. Sometimes this

process requires a period of recovery from an illness,

surgery, or other condition.

Why does it take so long to process my

application and other reports?

We receive an average of 1800 applications for medical

certification each day. We are required to review each

to assure that medical standards are met. When an

application is found that may not meet the requirements, a letter is written to the applicant identifying the

problem and outlining the further potential courses

of action. We must then wait for a response from the

applicant before we can proceed further. Each time

new information is received, the application package

must again be reviewed. Given the large number of

applications being processed and the amount of time

required to evaluate the information, it sometimes

takes longer than we all would like.

What can I do to speed the

process along?

There are several steps you can take to assure that

your application package is processed in the shortest

time possible. Use this list of items like a checklist to

speed the processing of your application.

• Don’t hesitate to ask your AME for advice and

assistance in gathering the requested information.

• When we ask for additional information, we

ask for the least amount possible to make our

decision. This means that we really do need

everything that we request, so the first thing

that you can do is to make sure that all the

information that we have requested is being

provided. Also, please understand, if we ask that

a certain test be performed in a certain way, that

is what we need. Be sure that you take all of

our letters with you to your physician, and try to

emphasize the importance of exactly fulfilling

our requests.

• Have your designated AME upload all of the

required information or have all of the information

forwarded to us in one package.

• Please disclose all medical information as

indicated in your MedXPress application. Failure

to completely disclose the information will cause

delays in the process of your application.