WindOnHisNose
BENEFACTOR
Lino Lakes MN (MY18)
Late last evening I received an email from Mike Vivion that caused me to have a sleepless night...
A family medicine doc, David B. Wheat MD, AME, from Mississippi, wrote a letter to his pilots (he does about 400 exams per year) after he became informed about changes that go into effect January 1.
Those changes were outlined in a relatively new program (the FAA calls it "AME Grand Rounds"), in which monthly updates are provided for CME credit to AMEs. The December FAA Ground Rounds that is causing many of us to consider calling it quits is available for each of you to watch...and I encourage you to do so... at
.
To see what changes go into effect with regard to color vision, watch 0-15:00 minutes. You will see that we, as AMEs, are required to no longer use the traditional color vision chart and that we will be required to use one of 3 computer-generated color tests (which are timed...3 seconds per image, I believe) for new applicants, or for those seeking to go from 3rd class medicals to 2nd or 3rd class. The cost to gain access to these tests is not insignificant ($3000 to buy the one of the programs, or a monthly fee). For me, as a pilot, I am appalled, in that I didn't realize this was such a huge issue! I have not needed to deal with receiving/interpreting light gun signals EVER in 9000 hours of PIC!
The YouTube between 15:00 and the end, is even more troublesome, AND YOU NEED TO WATCH THAT SEGMENT! When a pilot comes in for exam, and we defer, that pilot will receive a "denial and reconsideration" letter from the FAA, unless the AME has uploaded all the necessary testing and information that would be required for granting a Special Issuance. "How is a pilot to know what information they need to bring present?" you ask? That information is contained in the Guide for Medical Examiners, available on the FAA website, so if you have developed a condition that grounds you (e.g., cardiac stents, myocardial infarction, transient ischemic attack (TIA), loss of consciousness, many cancers) since your last FAA medical you MUST bring that in to your AME for the examination! Should you not "preflight" your FAA medical exam with your AME, and you give the confirmation number to your AME, your AME must defer and you will immediately be denied. What happens if you bring in what you (or your AME) thought you needed to provide and the AME uploads that data and if the FAA decides it is incomplete you will receive a denial letter!
Here are the slides from that presentation:
This will place a burden on you and your AME. You are encouraged to provide your supporting information to your AME for uploading into the FAA system, rather than to mail in the data (mailing in adds at least a month to the process). That may not be a problem for AMEs who have a staff to help them, but for me (chief cook and bottle washer) I am just not liking that process. Regardless of big support staff or not, this will increase costs.
What if you accurately determine exactly what the FAA wants for said condition, you bring that with you to your AME and he/she does the exam and uploads the necessary information? You will not receive a denial letter. My concern with this is that it is my experience that the Guide for Medical Examiners is not always clear on what needs to be submitted, and it is also my experience that the FAA often does not accept the interpretation of the local, board-certified cardiologist, for example, and wants more data or repeat testing. Denial letter to follow, with the new rules.
As pointed out by Dr. Wheat, this will drive many of us out of providing FAA medical exams, and it is already a challenge to find AMEs. For those AMEs who continue to provide FAA medicals it will likely drive up the cost of providing that service. For me, I already to a phone call to preflight each and every pilot who wants to schedule a medical exam, be that for FAA or BasicMed, but the days of just showing up with your confirmation number are over...lest you fall into the trap of being deferred...which means automatic denial if all is not in order.
What does denial mean? Well, for starters, you are grounded. Can you regain your FAA medical? You sure can, but it will take time and money...probably lots of both. Can you go BasicMed? Nope. Can you say "screw it, I'll to Light Sport"? Nope. Your only choice, once denied, is to regain at least a 3rd class medical and a Special Issuance, and then you can go BasicMed (if you can find a doc to do that!) or LSA.
This is very bad news, folks, and only adds to the concern I've voiced on Supercub.org with the 2024 FAA Reauthorization Bill (signed into law May 2024) which gives the FAA total access to your medical records when you provide your electronic signature (confirmation number). Q: Why didn't AOPA fight the latter concern? A: They negotiated, giving up on the medical record issue in exchange for significant increase in aircraft weight parameters for those (few) of us who fly Caravans or Kodiaks. I continue to feel this was a bad deal.
Listen to the calm, authoritative tone of the presenters of the Grand Rounds, as they "splain" why these change were made and soon to be put into action. We, as pilots, should be outraged.
Many thanks to Mike Vivion for calling this to my attention. I have confirmed the concerns, as noted above, and suggest you do, too.
Doc R
A family medicine doc, David B. Wheat MD, AME, from Mississippi, wrote a letter to his pilots (he does about 400 exams per year) after he became informed about changes that go into effect January 1.
Those changes were outlined in a relatively new program (the FAA calls it "AME Grand Rounds"), in which monthly updates are provided for CME credit to AMEs. The December FAA Ground Rounds that is causing many of us to consider calling it quits is available for each of you to watch...and I encourage you to do so... at
To see what changes go into effect with regard to color vision, watch 0-15:00 minutes. You will see that we, as AMEs, are required to no longer use the traditional color vision chart and that we will be required to use one of 3 computer-generated color tests (which are timed...3 seconds per image, I believe) for new applicants, or for those seeking to go from 3rd class medicals to 2nd or 3rd class. The cost to gain access to these tests is not insignificant ($3000 to buy the one of the programs, or a monthly fee). For me, as a pilot, I am appalled, in that I didn't realize this was such a huge issue! I have not needed to deal with receiving/interpreting light gun signals EVER in 9000 hours of PIC!
The YouTube between 15:00 and the end, is even more troublesome, AND YOU NEED TO WATCH THAT SEGMENT! When a pilot comes in for exam, and we defer, that pilot will receive a "denial and reconsideration" letter from the FAA, unless the AME has uploaded all the necessary testing and information that would be required for granting a Special Issuance. "How is a pilot to know what information they need to bring present?" you ask? That information is contained in the Guide for Medical Examiners, available on the FAA website, so if you have developed a condition that grounds you (e.g., cardiac stents, myocardial infarction, transient ischemic attack (TIA), loss of consciousness, many cancers) since your last FAA medical you MUST bring that in to your AME for the examination! Should you not "preflight" your FAA medical exam with your AME, and you give the confirmation number to your AME, your AME must defer and you will immediately be denied. What happens if you bring in what you (or your AME) thought you needed to provide and the AME uploads that data and if the FAA decides it is incomplete you will receive a denial letter!
Here are the slides from that presentation:
This will place a burden on you and your AME. You are encouraged to provide your supporting information to your AME for uploading into the FAA system, rather than to mail in the data (mailing in adds at least a month to the process). That may not be a problem for AMEs who have a staff to help them, but for me (chief cook and bottle washer) I am just not liking that process. Regardless of big support staff or not, this will increase costs.
What if you accurately determine exactly what the FAA wants for said condition, you bring that with you to your AME and he/she does the exam and uploads the necessary information? You will not receive a denial letter. My concern with this is that it is my experience that the Guide for Medical Examiners is not always clear on what needs to be submitted, and it is also my experience that the FAA often does not accept the interpretation of the local, board-certified cardiologist, for example, and wants more data or repeat testing. Denial letter to follow, with the new rules.
As pointed out by Dr. Wheat, this will drive many of us out of providing FAA medical exams, and it is already a challenge to find AMEs. For those AMEs who continue to provide FAA medicals it will likely drive up the cost of providing that service. For me, I already to a phone call to preflight each and every pilot who wants to schedule a medical exam, be that for FAA or BasicMed, but the days of just showing up with your confirmation number are over...lest you fall into the trap of being deferred...which means automatic denial if all is not in order.
What does denial mean? Well, for starters, you are grounded. Can you regain your FAA medical? You sure can, but it will take time and money...probably lots of both. Can you go BasicMed? Nope. Can you say "screw it, I'll to Light Sport"? Nope. Your only choice, once denied, is to regain at least a 3rd class medical and a Special Issuance, and then you can go BasicMed (if you can find a doc to do that!) or LSA.
This is very bad news, folks, and only adds to the concern I've voiced on Supercub.org with the 2024 FAA Reauthorization Bill (signed into law May 2024) which gives the FAA total access to your medical records when you provide your electronic signature (confirmation number). Q: Why didn't AOPA fight the latter concern? A: They negotiated, giving up on the medical record issue in exchange for significant increase in aircraft weight parameters for those (few) of us who fly Caravans or Kodiaks. I continue to feel this was a bad deal.
Listen to the calm, authoritative tone of the presenters of the Grand Rounds, as they "splain" why these change were made and soon to be put into action. We, as pilots, should be outraged.
Many thanks to Mike Vivion for calling this to my attention. I have confirmed the concerns, as noted above, and suggest you do, too.
Doc R
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