Still on the mission

Retirement was supposed to be a break, and for about two weeks it was. "Then all of a sudden I started wondering, 'What am I doing? Who am I now? What is my life?'" she said.

At the FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, Buriak said she helped create Pilot Minute, an FAA video series explaining medical certification rules for pilots and aviation medical examiners, as well as AME Minute and online training for AMEs. When she left, she missed both the work and the mission behind it.

After her brief retirement from the FAA, she began developing FlightMedReady, a free online tool that helps AMEs identify the tests and documentation a pilot may need before an aviation medical examination.

The tool uses publicly available information from the FAA's Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners (AME Guide) and federal regulations. An AME picks a certificate class, enters the pilot's age and whether the examination is an initial or follow-up exam, then identifies relevant medical conditions or medications. The tool then creates a checklist outlining possible tests, reports, status letters, and other documentation linked to the selection. "There's no decisions being made with this app. This is just an informational tool," she said.

The idea grew from a problem she saw while at the FAA. The AME Guide contains a large amount of information written primarily for physicians and medical officers, while pilots may struggle to understand what documentation they'll be expected to provide. "The whole idea here is to reduce delays through education," she said.

The checklist is generated as a PDF that an AME can review with a pilot. It includes explanatory notes and links to FAA guidance. Buriak stresses that the AME remains responsible for the examination and for checking the FAA's current guidance. FlightMedReady is independently developed and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the FAA. "I think it's refresher training for an AME, because there's 200-plus conditions in here and a lot of permutations," Buriak said. "They can't remember everything."

Buriak first built FlightMedReady as a tool for pilots, but after consulting an attorney specializing in online privacy, she became concerned about Washington state's My Health My Data Act and the implications of collecting consumer health information. So, she changed course and directed her efforts for use by AMEs, eliminating the need for pilot accounts or the collection of personally identifiable information.

Buriak said the only usage information she tracks is aggregate activity, including page hits and PDF exports. After using artificial intelligence tools to help develop FlightMedReady, she enlisted a software engineer to review the application for data leaks, exposed application programming interface, and other technical concerns. A law firm helped prepare the app's privacy policy, terms of service, and disclaimers.

Testing also became an important part of checking the results. So far, two experienced aviation medical professionals have tested the app. During one review, an examiner questioned how it described additional hearing testing. Buriak revisited the underlying guidance and changed the wording to better reflect when secondary testing may be required. Buriak said misinformation is a risk and that nuances in FAA guidance still require human review.

For now, FlightMedReady remains free and Buriak is looking for more AMEs to test it and provide feedback. She hopes to assemble a small group of AMEs to run different medical scenarios through the tool and flag anything that requires clarification. The project, she said, is less about building a business than finding a way to continue the work she had left behind. "I just really missed what I did, which was medical education," Buriak said.