FAA Medical Deferment

H

HnlPilot

Filing Flight Plan
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Sep 29, 2023
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Kailua, HI
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Display name:
Jake
Hi all, I posted in the /flying reddit as well but figured i would post here too. I went to my AME exam for a 1st class medical on 9/19 and for some reason put down therapy visits on my medxpress application. Apparently, my AME told me to get a letter from my doctor stating that my problem was resolved and that i was prescribed no medication. I did that and turned it in two days later. Apparently, he deferred my medical instead of just issuing me a medical which I'm assuming he should have done. I was not diagnosed anything since it was a therapist and shouldn't need HIMS. I provided a cover letter as well as my visit notes with my therapist that showed I wasn't diagnosed, and I didn't get prescribed medication. What are the chances of me getting my 1st class medical and how soon do you all think I could see that? I plan on starting my training in January 2024, so I decided to go ahead and get my medical early just in case something like this occurred. My hope is that OKC or my RFS just gives the ok since it was just therapy and not request any more documentation but i guess we'll see. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
"Therapy" is a broad term and can apply to a broad range of conditions. Marital counseling does not need to be reported, but many other reasons for therapy do need to be reported, Do you know how your therapist listed a diagnosis? That can be critical.
 
dbahn said:
"Therapy" is a broad term and can apply to a broad range of conditions. Marital counseling does not need to be reported, but many other reasons for therapy do need to be reported, Do you know how your therapist listed a diagnosis? That can be critical.
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so i actually just got off the phone with my ame office. there was no diagnosis with my therapy visits. Apparently, since I did one medxpress application within 90 days of my other one, they could not issue my certification at my visit and had to send it to the FAA. However, the AME office did tell me that they cleared me. I'm not sure if that helps at all in my case or if it will speed up the process.
 
If your AME got confirmation that you certificate has been issued, you should receive it in the mail within the next few weeks. You can check the status of your medical certificate here or by logging back in to MedXPress. If either show's your certificate has been issued, you can call AMCD and request that they email it to you.

It is true that applications submitted with 90-days of the previous one must be deferred.
 
WingmanMed said:
If your AME got confirmation that you certificate has been issued, you should receive it in the mail within the next few weeks. You can check the status of your medical certificate here or by logging back in to MedXPress. If either show's your certificate has been issued, you can call AMCD and request that they email it to you.

It is true that applications submitted with 90-days of the previous one must be deferred.
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Ah, well I guess that solves it. Do you know of anybody who has been in a similar position and knows a general wait time? Also, if my AME approved it, should it automatically get approved by the FAA? I would assume since it wasn’t a medical related deferment that it might be quicker. I know the RFS said a doctor should be picking it up/looking at it today.
 
HnlPilot said:
so i actually just got off the phone with my ame office. there was no diagnosis with my therapy visits. Apparently, since I did one medxpress application within 90 days of my other one, they could not issue my certification at my visit and had to send it to the FAA. However, the AME office did tell me that they cleared me. I'm not sure if that helps at all in my case or if it will speed up the process.
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He told you the FAA cleared you or the AME cleared you? And what happened with your prior application?

As for the therapy, you know this now, but for anyone who still doesn't, the Medxpress instructions for question 19 say, "List visits for counseling only if related to a personal substance abuse or psychiatric condition." This is easily addressed in a conversation with your therapist/counselor/priest/etc.
 
If the government isn't shut down on monday you can call 405-954-4821 and they will email it to you.....but heads up everyone, here it comes.....again.
 
Lindberg said:
He told you the FAA cleared you or the AME cleared you? And what happened with your prior application?

As for the therapy, you know this now, but for anyone who still doesn't, the Medxpress instructions for question 19 say, "List visits for counseling only if related to a personal substance abuse or psychiatric condition." This is easily addressed in a conversation with your therapist/counselor/priest/etc.
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My AME approved my medical but couldn’t issue it because of the other application in the system so it had to get deferred to FAA. Not sure what happened to my other application.
 
HnlPilot said:
My AME approved my medical but couldn’t issue it because of the other application in the system so it had to get deferred to FAA. Not sure what happened to my other application.
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Did you not file the other application?
 
bbchien said:
If the government isn't shut down on monday you can call 405-954-4821 and they will email it to you.....but heads up everyone, here it comes.....again.
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Currently in medxpress it just shows as in review though. Should they be able to issue me a medical if i call them and tell them my AME approved it or no? Also, looks like a government shutdown is put off until November luckily
 
You probably can't expedite your application review by calling AMCD, but your regional flight surgeon or AME might be able to. If you application is still in review, I would recommend working through one of them to push things along.
 
HnlPilot said:
and for some reason put down therapy visits on my medxpress application.
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“Some reason” being that you are legally required to do so, and that lying on an FAA medical application is a felony?
 
Update for those who care, I called my RFS today and they said it was approved! So glad that got taken care of, I was stressing out about it all week. They said 7-14 business days to receive in the mail
 
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