by Dr. Bill Blank, MD
Senior Aviation Medical Examiner
© Copyright 2024. All rights reserved
Published in Midwest Flyer Magazine June/July 2024 Digital Issue
The FAA ocular certification procedures are badly in need of an update. This has never been done before. AMEs are required to take a “basic science” course when they first become AMEs, and active AMEs are required to take a “refresher” course periodically. Both courses cover FAA rules and procedures.
It’s hard to believe. I have been giving the ocular lectures at some of these courses for almost 20 years. As I gave these lectures, I began to think about some of the content and wondered why we were doing some of these things this way. Some of the procedures may have been justified when they were conceived, but now are obsolete. Sometimes when I gave these talks, important FAA decision-makers were in the back row, including the Deputy Federal Air Surgeon and Regional Flight Surgeons. As I became more comfortable, I started to make comments for the back row about things I thought could be improved.
It has started to bear fruit. The current vision restriction is one example of such an improvement. That took 7 years. Some in the FAA have come to realize change is needed. This has partly been driven by the chronic shortage of FAA medical personnel, and also by the realization that some of these procedures complicate and delay the process for FAA personnel with no gain.
Recently, a visionary FAA Deputy Federal Air Surgeon, Scott Rossow, MD, and Judith Frazier, MD, Manager Medical Policy and Standards, established a small committee to review many of the eye certification conditions and procedures. There are two AME ophthalmologists on the committee who bring practical clinical experience to the committee, something lacking in the FAA. Another member is Courtney Scott, DO. MPH, former Manager of AMCD (Aero Medical Certification Division) and the originator of CACIs (Conditions AMEs Can Issue). We meet virtually once or twice a month. Two or three subjects are discussed each time. Recommendations are made. They are discussed in Washington and sometimes re-discussed.
The goal is to codify the changes and put them in disposition tables or in CACIs which will be available to AMEs. The disposition tables specify what data an AME needs to issue the medical certificate on the spot, and which medicals need to be deferred. Also specified is what information the FAA will need to issue a Special Issuance.
I am cautiously optimistic that these changes will actually occur. Some are badly needed. Conditions which hadn’t even been recognized when the current procedures were established, have been added. AMEs will become aware of the changes when they are published online in the monthly updates to the AME guide. You probably won’t be aware of them unless you have an eye condition which requires special consideration. EAA and/or AOPA may decide to write about some of these changes after they have been published. I have purposely not listed the changes. They are too extensive and complicated to put into this short article and in addition, are subject to change until actually published and maybe afterwards. I hope they come to pass.
Happy Flying!
EDITOR’S NOTE: Columnist William A. Blank is a physician in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and has been an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) since 1978, and a Senior AME since 1985. Dr. Blank is a retired Ophthalmologist, but still gives some of the ophthalmology lectures at AME renewal seminars. Flying-wise, Dr. Blank holds an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate and has 6000 hours. He is a Certified Flight Instructor – Instrument (CFII) and has given over 1200 hours of aerobatic instruction. In addition, Dr. Blank was an airshow performer through the 2014 season and has held a Statement of Aerobatic Competency (SAC) since 1987. He was inducted into the Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame in 2021.
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this column is the expressed opinion of the author only, and readers are advised to seek the advice of others, including their own AME, and refer to the Federal Aviation Regulations and FAA Aeronautical Information Manual for additional information and clarification.