Aviation Medicine

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…

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

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…

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…

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!

I wasn't sure if this should go under the General Discussion or Aviation Medicine forum, so I just figured I'd toss it here. I got my FC1 completed back in January of this year. At the time, my recruiter told me everything looked good and I would probably have it approved and receive an OTS class start date by mid-march. It's now the beginning of may and I'm not even sure if the FC1 has left the base I originally took it at to go to Randolph. My recruiter seems a little reluctant to return phone calls and I'm just wondering if there is anything I can do to find out where the physical is right now and how long things are going to take. Always ready to hurry up and …

Hello I am currently a loadmaster and have a hearing waiver until 06 for a class three flight physical. I am applying for a nav slot and need a class two. Will the waiver for the class three slide over or will a new workup have to be done? Can I get a waiver for the class two? Can anyone give me some insight? Thanks

MOD NOTE This is a merge of all the topics dealing with Medical Flight Screening (MFS), consisting of multiple threads discussing MFS information and prcedures. The Baseops merge feature had issues merging topics posted prior to the Baseops conversion, so the first page and a half of dates are not chronological but the original topics are consolidated. This thread is only for issues that are handles at Brooks during MFS and those procedures. It is not for general questions on those symptoms. For example, "How do they check for blood pressure at MFS?" is fine. "What happens if I have high blood pressure in the AF?" goes elsewhere. Below are links to other thread…

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…

In lieu of the FCI chaning locations from Brooks to Wright-Patterson, does anyone have any information on when this conversion is going to taking place? Have they stopped giving out FCI dates until they know when the conversion is going to be final? I've been "approved" by the SG to take my flight physical, but they have not provided dates yet due to the change in administering locations. Is anyone else in a similar situation or have any "firm" information?

Has anyone ever applied for an exception to policy(or know of anyone who has)? I have been selected for a Nav job in the Guard. My physical was excellent except one of my eyes is just beyond the waiverable limits for a class 1A. I know that the ETP is hard to get approved, but I wont know unless I try. If anyone out there has any idea of where in the regs to go to find info about how to proceed with the ETP or has tried it yourself, I would appreciate anything that you may have. Thanks for your time.

I am getting ready to go to OTS and UPT for the AF reserve and currently wear glasses. My eyes are 20/25 left and 20/30 right. A friend of mine just got contacts that he can wear for 30 days at a time. Can i get those as well and is it advisabe to wear contacts at OTS? Thanks.

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"I've heard about them"..."not sure if they exist"..."I've heard a rumor"..."only if you were born on a Thursday, then you can get one". :confused: I have come back to these comments time and time again when thinking about this subject. As a highly determined applicant, the word "waiver" was music to my ears (course all of these questions popped into my head at the same time). Anyone else in the same boat as me? I appreciate any replys: How hard is it to obtain a moral waiver? waivers in general? Can you personally participate in the efforts to obtain a waiver, or are you completely out of the loop? Any sources out there that might explain the waiver…

Flight Doc, I've read some of your other posts on allergies, but am having a hard time determining whether or not I will be DQ'd or waivered. I've had seasonal allergies since I was a child. I've gotten prescriptions and even did allergy shots for a few years. I've been allergy and prescription free for about 8 years now (I'm 24). I can cut grass, play softball in Spring etc. with no problems. I started the allergy shot routine after age 12, but I'm pretty sure my first visit to the doctor about my allergies occurred before age 12. Would I be waiverable? Otherwise, I have perfect vision and no history of any other medical problems. I'm hoping this one thin…

Dear Flight Doc, I have a question, I think when I was little I had an inner ear infection (I was told by my parents that some sort of fluid leaked from my left ear) When I was going thru the medical exams for the flight school (that was in Turkey), the doctor saw something in my left ear and instructed me to do some valsalva maneuvers. He examined a little bit more and then told me that I previously had my eardrum had a perforation but it healed itself and the perforation was gone... That explains the click sound in my left ear when I do the valsalva... I flew for 233 hours in Turkey (under ICAO rules) and 45 hours in US with a FAA Class I medical. Didn't hav…

Went up to my clinic to get a better understanding of what the problem is . . . plain and simply put it's LAZY EYE. Vision is perfect, 20/20 all around except one spot where I'm told it's better at 20/17 . . . not color blind, and have good depth perception. The only thing holding me back is lazy eye, and I'm told mine is kinda abnormal where most lazy eyes drift right or left, mine drifts up. Being sent to optemologist for evaluation and for a last opinion as to what can be done to strengthen my eye muscles. Anyone with similar problems get through it? I hear it will be easier for me on the civy side and I would love to fly for the airlines, but I have a g…

F16md I appreciate your answering my question a few weeks ago regarding my doctor prescribing me the blood pressure medicine; even though the response was not what I hoped. I have since been having blood pressure checked at both the doctor's office and my own personal machine I bought(while off the medecine), and it has been normal My aunt is a pharmacist and good friends with the local hypertension specialist. If he says that I don't need the medication, and that the other doctor's decision was hasty. What are my chances of being passing the physical. I have only been on the medication for two months and I saw in the regulations that you included in your response; i…

I am wondering if I could be screened out at brooks. I already have my FC1 but what are they checking at Brooks? I mean does anyone know exactly what they check? Blood pressure.. that type of thing?

This is just a general question regarding the physical. Do you automatically bust your physical if you a couple pounds over the max weight? Any help would be appreciated.

So I injured my right knee skiing about a year ago. Now its time for me to go to MEPS for OTS and I've got a predicament. The ortho I was seeing sent me for an MRI which returned with a possible ACL rupture. I was told to exercise it and come back to see him if the knee continued to bother me. I haven't had it give out on me since and am running appprox 20 miles a week on an indoor track. Doesn't hurt to run, but I can tell its not as good as my left knee. So I was doing my research in prep for MEPS and came upon the DQ for ACL injuries. I know the reconstructions can be waivered, but has anyone heard of a waiver for a previous knee injury without surgery? I'm run…

I was just told I have a herniated disc in my back that may require surgery. What kind of problems can this create for me in passing my class 1 physical?

AN ANSWER TO END THIS THREAD I am almost 5 weeks post-op and I am getting my ducks in a row to make a waiver application for PRK. I just talked to my helpful contact at Brooks regarding the issue discussed above. You MAY apply for the waiver/FC1 as early as 3 months post-op but must have the cyclopentolate (dialted) exams at 3 months and 6 months instead of 6 months and 12 months. You will be required to have a 12-month exam as well but your waiver should be approved/declined before then. See section 5.1 of the doc pilot2B posted earlier. I believe this is the root of the confusion - you MAY NOT actually go to Brooks for MFS/FC1 before you are 12 months post-op,…

Is a slight spinal curve DQin? I forget what it is called, but in middle school they said I had a slight curve. Scoliosis I think it is called. Anyways, It never gave me any problems. [ 05. July 2004, 15:07: Message edited by: Swigs ]