Aviation Medicine

The River Rats Organization has been receiving a lot of calls/e-mails lately regarding fighter aicrew being diagnosed with Cancer in their 40's, some in their 50's. Lots of findings of Prostate Cancer, but a couple incidents of Testicular and Thyroid...even a few Brain Cancer's. If you know of ANYONE that is involved with tactical aviation / radar exposure, regardless of their MWS, and they have been diagonsed with Cancer, please have them contact James "Hoser" Paulsen at hoserfa18@mac.com Hoser is the River Rats National Vice President and is the POC for data collection. Once the data has been compiled (and depending on what it shows) the River Rats inte…

Can anyone give a more recent experience going through FC1/MFS also specify on body measurements? Thank You

ALCON Looking for info on - Is it true that LASIK is allowed with has certain A/C restrictions?

First, let me say that posting this using UBB is a pain in the A@*!!!! Second, these are the Standards. What they will waiver (which is probably what you want to know) is inappropriate for me to post. You need to ask them. Third, these standards are for Applicants. There are different standards for trained aviators. Standards Visual Acuity Pilots USAF 20/70 USN 20/40 USMC 20/40 USA 20/50 Nav USAF 20/200 USN correctable to 20/20 USMC correctable to 20/20 USA N/A Other USAF 20/200 USN correctable to 20/20 USMC correctable to 20/20 USA 20/400 Refractive Error (any meridian) Pilot USAF -1.50 +2.00 USN -1.50 +3.00 USMC -1.5…

There are often new threads that don't need to be started since their information has been covered in the past and needs only to be revived and possibly updated. Here's the ROE on searching and starting new threads. 1. UTFSF: If there is a remote chance that your topic has been discussed, use the search function to find it and re-open that thread. 2. Get something close: It doesn't matter if your specific question was not answered - find a thread that is close and ask your question there. The intent is to consolidate discussion as much as possible so there are a minimal amount of threads discussing the same topic. 3. Disclaimers are unneccesary: You don't need to st…

Hey Docs or anyone else who can help, I was awarded a pilot slot for the active duty, but just found out from the the people who gave me my F1C down at Edwards that I have exoporia which is supposed to be a divergence of my eyes at near vision. Now I'm not at all knowlegable in areas of vision problems because I've never had any, but I just don't want to give up on my dream without a fight. Is there anything at all that I can do or do just have to accept the inevitable. Your responses will be greatly appreciated. :confused:

Hi I’m not sure if this is the right place to post this but I have the opportunity to become part of a flight crew but I need to pass a class 3 flight physical but I don’t know if I can since I do have amblyopia but this is something I really want to do but I don’t want to waste my leaderships time by going through the process just to be told I can’t pass. Thank you all for listening

I have always dreamed of being a fighter pilot in the navy or Air Force. I was going to try to get into one of the academies, but I was diagnosed with a fish allergy when I was 13 that I needed an EpiPen for so I just gave up, knowing that the allergy was disqualifying (I finally got tested for the allergy after a bad reaction, but had a history of reactions to fish when I was little). Fast forward a few years now, I just had an appointment with my allergist and we did bloodwork to see where my allergy was at. I tested negative for every type of fish except still slightly positive for cod. We then did a cod food challenge where I ate a whole cod fillet and I had no reacti…

Gentlemen, is there a USAF flight doc that could DM me? I have a couple questions I need to run by you. Current flyer

I currently am a O-3 and DNIF from an injury I just encountered on a deployment 2 months ago. I had to get surgery last month and I am currently recovering. The doc says I should be able to come off DNIF status in the next 3 months. I am still on my deployment orders, but they expire in the next 3 weeks. I already submitted a LOD, but now I am debating whether to do MEDCON orders or use my airline pilot disability program instead. The airline pilot disability program pays me more than what I make in the Air Force when on AD orders. I normally am a TR and my family and I live 800 miles away from my reserve unit. My only issue with MEDCON is that if I co…

In applying for my FAA medical certification I found out that the TBI accident I had as an 8 year old would come back to haunt me (shocking, I know). I had internal bleeding from falling off my bike, and 1 seizure on the way to the hospital, but the bleeding stopped within 24 hrs and I made a full recover within a few weeks. No meds, no PT, no surgeries, nothing. Now, I got a letter from the FAA asking for an EEG, MRI, neuropsych eval, etc. - the whole nine yards - and after an initial neurology visit the neurologist believes there aren't any left over effects and that this should just be about crossing I's and dotting T's. On the military side, I've completed MEPS e…

I am in a tough situation and would really appreciate any and all advice that I can get, so thank you in advance for taking the time to read this post. I got sponsored by a reserve unit for the June board this year. Went through MEPS, and submitted my paperwork requesting my FC1. My recruiter came back and said that I failed depth perception, got a "PASS C", and that I am DQ'ed, that there is no waiver, and that I am done and cannot be a pilot. I find this very hard to accept as I have devoted everything in the past few years to achieving this goal. Luckily my sponsoring unit has not dropped me, and they are asking around to see if there are any solutions. I have tried lo…

Just out of curiosity, how many of you have a waiver for your eye vision? I'm 20/50 and 20/70 right now (only graduating H.S. this year) so I know it will be a lot worse four years down the road when I hope to be shooting for my UPT slot. I've heard mixed answers about getting waivers for eye vision and I just wanted to hear some first hand stories. =) Also, what was your eye sight when you recieved the waiver? Thanks!

My daughter is a Loadmaster and was previously on flying status. She had an issue where she passed out due to poor nutrition/dehydration, etc. she went to WPAFB and did the standard tests there to try and get her back to flying. During the tilt-table she passed out again. A total of 2 times in her life, last one was 18 months ago. She has an FAA 1st class medical and has been working on her commercial/CFI over the last 8 months with no issues. Has anyone heard of a waiver being approved for POTS, or how long the process typically takes. We haven’t seen anything related to POTS in the waiver guide TIA

Hey folks, Big news today. The AF has officially adopted a new (more lenient) color vision policy that is more in line with the Army and Navy. Waivers are now available for ALL flying classes, including pilot applicants, as long as your CCT score is at least 55 with each eye on all cone types (i.e. red, green and blue letters). If you have recently been disqualified for color vision and you think you meet the waiver criteria, PM me and we'll see if we can get a waiver put in on your behalf. This will certainly be no problem for anyone recently DQ'd at Wright-Patt. If it was at a different location, there may be a little more legwork, but it should be do-able. I…

Good Morning! My name is Michael Velasco, I am a senior at NeoCity Academy and for my AP research class I am doing a survey to study the correlation between a pilots drinking/smoking habits and am hoping to gather participants through this forum. The information on the survey will be kept completely confidential and an email will only be used to make sure every participant only fills out the survey once. Survey

I'm considering entering AFROTC but I wanted to hear advice on the chances of me getting a waiver for my allergies, specifically for a pilot slot. I have mild allergies to most fruits except berries but I can still eat them, I just get a little itchy and a stomach ache. I'm also allergic to must tree nuts, which if I eat I get a bad stomach ache--but I don't think I'm anaphylactic. I've had allergies all my life but they have gotten better. Does anyone know if pilots are often able to get waivers for allergies?

Need a class 2 for potential job. AME initially said I was good to go but then FAA said I'll need waiver (SI) for my eye issue. Had waiver for it in the AF for last 8 years flying. Documentation showing its stable not progressing and not requiring any treatment or meds. I've seen anywhere from a couple weeks to many months. Anyone have experience with the process lately? Currently waiting on a LETTER from FAA to start the process. Also, the new color vision test is a bitch.

So two parter, is having a deviated septum a DQ condition and would i have more hoops to jump through if i had it fixed before FC1 vs waiting, getting cleared, and fixing it afterward? i only ask because my FC1 date keeps moving further and further and would like to get it fixed if able.

Going for my FC1 in a couple weeks, medical office requested hospital records from a concussion I got in 2002, and another in 2004. Both were mild, loss of conciseness for a minute or two, hospital did the MRIs said there was no damage, rest for two weeks and I was good to go. Never have had any problems since the incidents. Anything to be worried about or just standard procedure for all head injuries? I searched for the regs online, all I found on head injuries is regs if you are already have had a flying physical. Any help is appreciated.

https://alert5.com/2024/12/09/are-elite-u-s-navy-pilots-suffering-brain-injuries/#more-100974 So in addition to the higher cancer rates, pulling lots of Gs can also give you TBI? Was a B-1 bubba so not an issue for me but just curious how many fighter types have seen this.

I got my FCI physical yesterday and everything went good except for the pressure in my eye was a little higher than normal. I have never had any problems with this and there is no history of glaucoma in my family. I now have to get a consultation with an opthomologist. Has anyone here had the same problem. If so how was the consultation? Any help would be great. I have my consultation tomorrow and I am a little nervous about the whole thing.

Anyone know anyone that had an intercostal strain when they passed through the centrifuge? I passed no issues but curious regarding timelines and if they went DNIF. I don't hit the flight line again for 5 weeks so I'm just currently taking it easy thinking it'll heal itself.

Hello everyone. I have been trying for almost seven years to get picked up by the ANG, AFR and Active Air Force for a pilot slot. Last year, I was having a lot of problems with my employer. They owed me over 6 months of back pay and weren't paying me. I was looking for a new job, any job to get out of it and no luck. I was also in a fight with the Department of Labor, the IRS and my State's labor department to get one of them to do something and get my back pay owed to me. My employer even went as far as to try and claim I didn't work there but I had pay stubs and W-2/W-4 proof. I got into a lot of credit card debit, had to move back in with mom and dad, and did feel…

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