sniffler
MEMBER
Hawkins Texas
I have a SI for diabetes, am on a yearly cycle/two year cycle where year one I get my 3rd class medical, year two I do a status update, have my personal Doctor sign a letter, submit my A1C and my medical is renewed. So I have to get a new paper medical every year but the hoops change.
Then my SI letter it’s self has a cycle I think it’s 6 or 8 years so the AME medical I had yesterday was my last medical on this SI letter and I have one more “renewal” which I can do at an AME (easy, while you are sitting there) or mail the papers in directly to Oklahoma, which works but is a bit scary as things just disappear for a few weeks while you wait. Hiccup I had last year was my AME retired and new AME I went to would not do the renewal for me so I sent papers in to Oklahoma crossed my fingers and finally my medical showed up.
So I now have ~2 years for the BasicMed process to hopefully shake out. As others have noted the issue will be the checklist. My personal Doctor is Internal Medicine. I am in my 60’s so don’t need a GP. If something goes wrong it will most like be internal. While I see her twice a year and have a physical once a year the emphasis is on blood work and my diabetes checking organ functions that sort of thing. I also see an opthamologist once a year for a “diabetic” eye exam.
My point is if the BasicMed checklist includes things like:
#3 Ears - I had swimmers ear, she sent me to see a ears nose and throat specialist
#4 Eyes - she would send me to see my opthamologist or another specialist
#9 Anus - off I would go to see the proctologist
#11 GU - yep time for another referral
#20 vision - she does not have the color vision book or eye chart or machines at her clinic
You get the idea. My doctor is OK with signing the diabetes checklist and reporting my A1C but you toss all this other stuff in there and it ain’t going to happen, I am getting shipped off to see a dozen different doctors.
So was talking about all this to my new AME, former Navy flight surgeon, super nice guy but again in his 70’s I asked him if he would be my fall back that if I came in would he give me a BasicMed physical instead of a class 3. He said he didn’t see why not.
So in roughly a year I will decide if I go BasicMed which gives me four years or stick with the SI which means every year I have to do something.
I think it also means I need to finally wrap up my IFR ticket while I am on the class 3 as it sounds like check rides for new ratings cannot be done on BasicMed.
Randi
Then my SI letter it’s self has a cycle I think it’s 6 or 8 years so the AME medical I had yesterday was my last medical on this SI letter and I have one more “renewal” which I can do at an AME (easy, while you are sitting there) or mail the papers in directly to Oklahoma, which works but is a bit scary as things just disappear for a few weeks while you wait. Hiccup I had last year was my AME retired and new AME I went to would not do the renewal for me so I sent papers in to Oklahoma crossed my fingers and finally my medical showed up.
So I now have ~2 years for the BasicMed process to hopefully shake out. As others have noted the issue will be the checklist. My personal Doctor is Internal Medicine. I am in my 60’s so don’t need a GP. If something goes wrong it will most like be internal. While I see her twice a year and have a physical once a year the emphasis is on blood work and my diabetes checking organ functions that sort of thing. I also see an opthamologist once a year for a “diabetic” eye exam.
My point is if the BasicMed checklist includes things like:
#3 Ears - I had swimmers ear, she sent me to see a ears nose and throat specialist
#4 Eyes - she would send me to see my opthamologist or another specialist
#9 Anus - off I would go to see the proctologist
#11 GU - yep time for another referral
#20 vision - she does not have the color vision book or eye chart or machines at her clinic
You get the idea. My doctor is OK with signing the diabetes checklist and reporting my A1C but you toss all this other stuff in there and it ain’t going to happen, I am getting shipped off to see a dozen different doctors.
So was talking about all this to my new AME, former Navy flight surgeon, super nice guy but again in his 70’s I asked him if he would be my fall back that if I came in would he give me a BasicMed physical instead of a class 3. He said he didn’t see why not.
So in roughly a year I will decide if I go BasicMed which gives me four years or stick with the SI which means every year I have to do something.
I think it also means I need to finally wrap up my IFR ticket while I am on the class 3 as it sounds like check rides for new ratings cannot be done on BasicMed.
Randi