Question about special-issuance renewal

[AnonymousAsker]

Question for the AMEs on the board, if you'd be so kind. I'm the happy recipient of a new special-issuance first-class medical, in light of a history that included depression and substance use. Fortunately, I'm doing much better now and I showed to the FAA's satisfaction that both issues had resolved years ago.

The special-issuance letter expires in 2025, but my new medical is "not valid for any class after 5/31/2020." (I applied in May of last year.) The instructions on the letter say that to renew, I should see my (non-HIMS) clinical psychiatrist every six months for a report, and see my HIMS AME every six months as well. My HIMS AME believes that he will be able to re-issue me a new first-class medical at our six-month meetings without the FAA reviewing it each time, at least until 2025. I trust him very much, but I just want to be 100% sure that he's right about that so I'm not caught in the cold. Does that sound right to you?

Thank you!

 

[KeepWatch]

That is what the SI is for and why it has an expiration date so far into the future, to allow the AME to issue the medical without FAA review each time.

Congratulations on getting to the other side of the medical SI process!

 

[AnonymousAskser]

Wonderful. Thank you for the reassurance!

 

[AggieMike88]

200-IQ tip about your SI.... start keeping a binder with all info in it, making it simple to keep track of documentation and details needed to comply with the instructions...

in the binder, keep things such as

• A log of medical professionals you visit, date of visit, their name, and what was discussed or determined.
• A copy of your SI letter. The original might be stores where you keep important papers such as deeds to house and birth certificates.
• List of medications (is any), who issued the scrip, quantity, dosage, frequency,
• Anything else required by the SI letter or "makes sense to record".