how to find or pick an AME

Brad W

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Our friend Martin Pauley recently posted an interview with an AME, a Dr Blue if I recall....
Interesting conversation I thought.

but it brought a question to my mind that I don't recall being addressed.
They talked about using an AME that does a lot of exams per year...they would more likely be experienced and knowledgeable about certain options they have, etc... to avoid needless deferrals for example.

But How do you know if an AME in your neighborhood does a lot of exams or otherwise has the experience and knowledge?
 
That's not a guarantee of anything. One of the local AMEs set up in the ORD Hilton Basement. I have a lotta refugees from there- he was doing 4 exam/hr. If you had a problem he apparently tells the airman, wait for the letter and do what the FAA tells you to do. He doesn't help his guys....much at all.
 
Our friend Martin Pauley recently posted an interview with an AME, a Dr Blue if I recall....
Interesting conversation I thought.

but it brought a question to my mind that I don't recall being addressed.
They talked about using an AME that does a lot of exams per year...they would more likely be experienced and knowledgeable about certain options they have, etc... to avoid needless deferrals for example.

But How do you know if an AME in your neighborhood does a lot of exams or otherwise has the experience and knowledge?
Talk to a bunch of pilots in your area. You'll likely hear a few names that keep coming up.
 
Unfortunately like anything government controlled some are great and some are grifters. You’ll need to ask these questions in your local pilot community to find good intel.
 
Like any professional. Quantity is not equal to quality. The only reliable way is to go with word of mouth.

At least around here, everyone knows who the "FAA guys" are and who the "Pilot guys" are.
 
Ask around. Ask a lot. . .it's a weird relationship - you pay the AME, but he/she works for the FAA. That's an important difference. Some AMEs bought whole-hog into the sleep apnea nonsense, for example. Others gave it the weight it probably deserved, which was "not much."
 
I would also suggest it depends on your situation. If you've got nothing more exciting than hay fever and some wellness exams on your form maybe you only need the nearest credentialed doctor. If you're dealing with something where you have to send in hefty stacks of documentation it would probably pay to find someone who knows what they're doing.
 
I advise my students that if they answer yes to ANYTHING on MEDEXPRESS, we will find them a doc together.

I have started calling local area AMEs and interviewing them. An absolute criteria of mine is whether the Dr absolutely understands and supports the notion of “consults” so as not to eliminate options needlessly.

Just learned something new yesterday. One Doc assured me by noting he had a different billing code for a consult. Gave me a warm fuzzy. Still, I advise against even taking the medexpress number for a consult. Screen capture and print so he knows how you answer, but can’t start an application until you are satisfied with what you gotta do.
 
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Note: This is a little semantic, but AMEs absolutely work for YOU, not the FAA. YOU pay them.

But… there’s always a but…

Caveat emptor. They DO and are COMPELLED to abide by FARs. That being said, they are also MDs and DOs so AMA, Hippocratic oath, patient bill of rights, etc ALSO apply.

It is in YOUR best interest to make sure their priorities are straight. How you do this is not a trivial or simple matter. The consequences are dire if you do not, however.

A DOCTOR can not and should not compel TREATMENT for something not properly MEDICALLY diagnosed, without a waiver stating that it is NOT medically necessary, for THEIR protection. I’ve only seen this once in a hundred or more cases. Food for thought.

Appeasing the FAA is an ADMINISTRATIVE matter, which requires an administrative genius. This is a necessary requirement of good AME expected to handle an other than “easy” FAA medical, in addition to at least some medical acumen.
 
A DOCTOR can not and should not compel TREATMENT for something not properly MEDICALLY diagnosed,....


Generally speaking, AMEs and the FAA do not compel treatment, meaning drugs or surgery or the like. They do compel diagnostic examinations, testing, monitoring, and the like. Those diagnostics are not used to prescribe treatments; they are used to determine fitness to fly using (sometimes arbitrary, outdated, or flawed) FAA standards. I don't think any AME, acting in that role, ever prescribes medication.

BTW, since AMEs aren't treating patient afflictions, I'm not sure that what they do is even practicing medicine, technically speaking. It's sorta like the difference between an A&P and an A&P-IA. To become an IA one must first become and A&P, but when the IA is inspecting they aren't repairing; they're merely identifying problems.
 
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