Medical certification for dummies

Despite the plethora of educational topics the series covers, I haven’t yet seen one titled Government Bureaucracy for Dummies, (although there is How Washington Actually Works for Dummies).

It would be nice to have a volume titled Medical Certification for Dummies. It might not be one of the hottest books in the series, but I’ll bet a lot of pilots would pick up a copy.

With all bureaucracies, there are usually few “correct” pathways to meet the specific bureaucracy’s requirements to obtain the golden ticket: This is how it’s done, and any deviation from that may result in significant delays.

Dealing with the FAA Aerospace Medical Certification Division is no exception. When a deferred application for a medical is initially reviewed by the FAA, a letter requesting additional information is a common response. In most cases, the letters are clear and specific so the reader can usually figure out what needs to happen next. What isn’t always clear is that when the FAA asks for something that it deems necessary before a medical can be issued, the request really isn’t open to negotiation.

The golden rule of responding to an FAA request for additional medical information is to send them exactly what they’re asking for: nothing more, nothing less. FAA delays on medical certification deferrals are running very slowly now, measured not in weeks but in months. That backlog isn’t going clear out anytime soon, so if the FAA asks you for something more than what you’ve provided, the sooner you can get it into them the better.

Just be prepared to wait for a response. You will hear from them, but it will take a while.

Gary Crump is director of medical certification in the AOPA Pilot Information Center.

aopa.org/pps