WindOnHisNose
BENEFACTOR
Lino Lakes MN (MY18)
I have been working with a fellow supercubber who has had problems with kidney stones who has had a heck of a bad experience with the health care professionals with whom he has dealt.
Please take a moment to look at the thread he started in Medical Matters...
http://www.supercub.org/forum/showthread.php?45565-More-kidney-stone-questions
He presented to his AME with all the correct documentation in hand, enabling his AME to expedite his special issuance quickly to the FAA. His exam was on November 18, 2013. He was told that he would be deferred to the FAA. As of this morning, he had heard nothing from the FAA, so he called the Regional Flight Surgeon's office, and was told that his records were "not in the system", meaning that they had not yet been transmitted. He called his AME's office this morning, asking to speak to the AME and he was told that his case had been deferred to OKC. He contacted me.
I phoned the Regional Flight Surgeon's office and spoke, in fact, to the person with whom he had interacted with earlier. As I suspected, she indicated that the RFS office had no record of his examination and that she suspected that his record was sitting in the AME's office!
This was exactly what I suspected. The pilot had followed directions, had performed his preflight for his physical exam, had come in for his exam in a timely fashion and his AME had dropped the ball. I phoned him to tell him what I had learned and asked him what he wanted to do with this information. He told me that he had not had good luck speaking with the doctor, feeling pretty put off by the staff. I offered to call his AME on his behalf and he took me up on the offer.
I phoned his AME, was triaged extensively with regard to the pilots name/date of birth so that the doctor could review the chart. I indicated I would be happy to wait on the phone for her. The triage person came back on the line and asked if I was calling from the FAA. I told her I was not. She asked what my medical specialty was, to which I replied that I am a reproductive endocrinologist. She replied "Uh, OK, let me get Dr. xx".
Dr. XX immediately came on the line and wanted to know where I was calling from, I told her from the Land of 10,000 Lakes where it is cold and snowy. She was on the lower West Coast. Pleasantries exchanged. "This (male) patient is seeing you as a reproductive endocrinologist?" (She was wondering why her gentleman patient was seeing a gynecologist:roll
"No", I replied, "he is a friend who asked me as an AME as to why it is taking him so long to hear from the FAA." "I called the RFS office on his behalf a few minutes ago, Dr. XX, and I was told that you have failed to transmit his examination and supporting documents, and they cannot do ANYTHING until they receive them. Could you please transmit the information so that my friend can get back into the air?" I could hear her reprimand her staff as she shouted "Transmit is information NOW!" She apologized for being slow on this. I thanked her for taking control of this situation.
There are soooo many lessons to be learned from this experience.
If you do not walk out of your AME's office with a medical certificate, you need to hound them to make sure the exam and supporting information has been sent. Better yet, send the supporting documentation yourself to:
Federal Aviation Administration
Aerospace Medical Certification Division AAM-300
Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center
P.O. Box 25082
Oklahoma City, OK 73125-9867
Your supporting documentation is scanned in there and is available to all associated with the medical division of the FAA, including the Regional Flight Surgeon's office. Please look at the thread I started on Preflighting for Your Flight Physical:
http://www.supercub.org/forum/showthread.php?40205-Preflighting-for-Your-FAA-Medical-Examination
Have your poop in a pile, folks.
Your AME has the option of deferring to the RFS, which I would definitely recommend, or to OKC. Why would I recommend the RFS? Because they are there to take part of the load off OKC, and they work hard to do so. It is my opinion that you will have a more expedient handling of your documents/certification by going the RFS path. Of course, the AME that the pilot with a history of kidney stones used only defers to OKC....GRRRRRR!!!
If you have ANY reason to suspect that your AME is not on top of their game, find another AME. By being on top of their game I mean being in control of their staff/team and in being on top of aviation medicine.
I hope you will learn from this gentleman's experience.
Randy
Please take a moment to look at the thread he started in Medical Matters...
http://www.supercub.org/forum/showthread.php?45565-More-kidney-stone-questions
He presented to his AME with all the correct documentation in hand, enabling his AME to expedite his special issuance quickly to the FAA. His exam was on November 18, 2013. He was told that he would be deferred to the FAA. As of this morning, he had heard nothing from the FAA, so he called the Regional Flight Surgeon's office, and was told that his records were "not in the system", meaning that they had not yet been transmitted. He called his AME's office this morning, asking to speak to the AME and he was told that his case had been deferred to OKC. He contacted me.
I phoned the Regional Flight Surgeon's office and spoke, in fact, to the person with whom he had interacted with earlier. As I suspected, she indicated that the RFS office had no record of his examination and that she suspected that his record was sitting in the AME's office!
This was exactly what I suspected. The pilot had followed directions, had performed his preflight for his physical exam, had come in for his exam in a timely fashion and his AME had dropped the ball. I phoned him to tell him what I had learned and asked him what he wanted to do with this information. He told me that he had not had good luck speaking with the doctor, feeling pretty put off by the staff. I offered to call his AME on his behalf and he took me up on the offer.
I phoned his AME, was triaged extensively with regard to the pilots name/date of birth so that the doctor could review the chart. I indicated I would be happy to wait on the phone for her. The triage person came back on the line and asked if I was calling from the FAA. I told her I was not. She asked what my medical specialty was, to which I replied that I am a reproductive endocrinologist. She replied "Uh, OK, let me get Dr. xx".
Dr. XX immediately came on the line and wanted to know where I was calling from, I told her from the Land of 10,000 Lakes where it is cold and snowy. She was on the lower West Coast. Pleasantries exchanged. "This (male) patient is seeing you as a reproductive endocrinologist?" (She was wondering why her gentleman patient was seeing a gynecologist:roll
"No", I replied, "he is a friend who asked me as an AME as to why it is taking him so long to hear from the FAA." "I called the RFS office on his behalf a few minutes ago, Dr. XX, and I was told that you have failed to transmit his examination and supporting documents, and they cannot do ANYTHING until they receive them. Could you please transmit the information so that my friend can get back into the air?" I could hear her reprimand her staff as she shouted "Transmit is information NOW!" She apologized for being slow on this. I thanked her for taking control of this situation.There are soooo many lessons to be learned from this experience.
If you do not walk out of your AME's office with a medical certificate, you need to hound them to make sure the exam and supporting information has been sent. Better yet, send the supporting documentation yourself to:
Federal Aviation Administration
Aerospace Medical Certification Division AAM-300
Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center
P.O. Box 25082
Oklahoma City, OK 73125-9867
Your supporting documentation is scanned in there and is available to all associated with the medical division of the FAA, including the Regional Flight Surgeon's office. Please look at the thread I started on Preflighting for Your Flight Physical:
http://www.supercub.org/forum/showthread.php?40205-Preflighting-for-Your-FAA-Medical-Examination
Have your poop in a pile, folks.
Your AME has the option of deferring to the RFS, which I would definitely recommend, or to OKC. Why would I recommend the RFS? Because they are there to take part of the load off OKC, and they work hard to do so. It is my opinion that you will have a more expedient handling of your documents/certification by going the RFS path. Of course, the AME that the pilot with a history of kidney stones used only defers to OKC....GRRRRRR!!!
If you have ANY reason to suspect that your AME is not on top of their game, find another AME. By being on top of their game I mean being in control of their staff/team and in being on top of aviation medicine.
I hope you will learn from this gentleman's experience.
Randy
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