Aviation Medicine

I have in the past had surgury to repair a broken right elbow. I now have 4 titanium screws in that elbow. They are not needed now and I could get them taken out if need be. Is this something that could disqualify me from UPT. Should I have them removed before my FC1. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks

Hi all, I did a deep dive on this forum and couldn’t find a solid answer to this question. I’m headed to Wright-Patt at the end of February for my FC1, will I have any issues with urinalysis, blood work, etc. if I am taking supplemental creatine? Thanks in advance.

Hi All, I am currently working a waiver for a herniated disc in my low back. I had a discectomy just over 3 months ago, and was under the impression I had demonstrated the requisite stability noted in the waiver guide. I just talked with one of the flight doctors who is holding up my waiver as they are unsure as to when exactly my symptoms/back issue was stable. My previous flight doctor (who has separated) believed it was once the discectomy was complete the stability could start assuming I did not regress. This new flight doctor is unsure as to when stability will start and is holding up my waiver until she hears back from folks at ACS. Does anyone have any experi…

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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…

Here's the situation, a have my OTS class date and am all ready to go but the other day I am reading a list of medical disqualifiers and notice that I may have a condition that is on the list. I have had a couple endoscopies done when I was younger where they found "trachealization of the esophagus", and did dialations. I have not had anything done in about nine years, but the reason that I had them done initially was because I would get food stuck in my throat sometimes. It still happens to me sometimes, 3-4 times a month, but it only happens when I am trying to swallow too large of pieces of a fairly non-malleable food (ie. steak, also very large tablets). Generally…

Anybody have experience with gout and their FC1? And what that looks like post AF in the civilian flying world? Asking for a friend of course.

I love medicine and aviation. Naturally I am pursuing med school and the flight surgeon path. I've read throughout the internet that Navy flight surgeons attend a portion of their UPT and spend a lot of time back seating jets, whereas neither of these roles are as common for AF flight surgeons. Can anyone on here chime in about this? Is any portion of a flight surgeon's flight time actually logged training? I am aware of the pilot physician program, but unfortunately that sounds like it's all but exclusively for pilots to transition to medicine rather than the other way around.

I am looking to get a PPL to be more competitive for guard/reserve units but have came across a strange medical issue involving 0g/.5g pushovers and rapid descents. Whenever the descent begins, my lower abdomen and legs immediately tense up and I'm almost paralyzed. For example, we did a performance takeoff and I was completely fine on the climb, but the second he went to level out my quads and lower abdomen locked up and I felt like I was leaning back in the seat with those muscles entirely tense. I am completely fine doing 2G banked turns, steep climbs, and dealing with turbulence and other normal flying maneuvers. However, for whatever reason, these steep descent…

Hi all, Longtime lurker, first time poster; just want to take a minute to thank everyone for their contributions over the years as it has been incredibly helpful throughout this process. After extensive searching between these forums, the USAF Medical Standards Directory, and the Air Force Waiver Guide I still have a question regarding visual acuity. On airforce.com/careers under the Pilot FAQ’s in response to “What are the general qualifications to fly, including height?” the answer includes: “Have normal color vision with near visual acuity of 20/30 without correction and distance visual acuity of no worse than 20/70 in each eye, correctable to 20/20.” …

In High School, I was diagnosed with depression, and was put on Lexapro for 4 months. It hasn't recurred since and I've otherwise been perfectly normal. How much of a problem will this be?

Does anyone have recommendations on companies that help Veterans increase their VA disability percentage. I know there are a few out there but I’d like to go to one that someone can recommend. So far I’ve looked into: Ree Medical DBQreview and before someone mentions that I can just do it on my own. Yes I know but it took two years and hours of phone calls just to get the VA to schedule a hearing test for me so if I can avoid that hassle and even get an additional 10% it will be worth the fee of what these places are charging. I just want to be sure they aren’t a scam.

For any military pilots with first hand knowledge on this procedure, how long were you DNIF? And are you flying in an ejection seat community?

Hey guys looking for some info on this peculiar situation. I was fortunate enough to be picked up for a UPT position by an ANG C-130J unit back in February of 2022. Today at MEPS I was deemed disqualified due to my Refraction Error in my left eye being a 3.25 (3.0 Refraction Error limit). This came as a surprise to me because in April of 2022 at my civilian Optometrist, my vision prescription was a 2.75 Refraction Error astigmatism in each eye (please see attached photo). My astigmatism has also never been above a 3.0 Refraction Error for 10 years have worn contacts. I was told by the Optometrist Technician at MEPS that this drastic deviation is because t…

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 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?

Plan to claim ptsd on my va claim when i separate but trying to go guard. I know you can have a disability rating and be in the guard but how do you know which ratings would be disqualifying. None of them impact my ability to do my job. The guard unit is concerned with me being disqualified/needing a waiver planned to claim: ptsd knee lower back edit: mq-9 guy with no plans of flying outside of the air force

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.

Currently a reservist applying to both AD and NG/Reserve boards. As part of the AD process, my recruiter will have me go to MEPS. As a reservist, I was told if I get hired by a reserve unit, I can bypass MEPS entirely. Would paperwork/waivers required by MEPS complicate any accessions on the reserves side? I have deployed and gotten some minor injuries. Conversations with reserve flight docs say it wouldn't be a problem at their unit, I'm fit for duty. I'm worried that MEPS would be more strict about this, and would complicate my life. Can anyone in the know weigh in on this?

Hello, I am applying for a reserve flight engineer job and was required to get a waiver for my history of ADHD. I was recommended qualified by the flight doc and they will be submitting my waiver and flight physical up to the AFRC HQ. Does anyone know if my chances of getting the waiver approved are good if I was recommended qualified by the doc? Thanks.

To preface: Normally, the pain due to Osgood-Schlatter disease goes away, at least for most of the population. I was a rare case where the pain persisted, and I resorted to having a bone excision done to remove the piece of bone that was causing the inflammation and pain. I've been pain since then and I was back to running and biking only a week after the surgery. I'm not sure if I technically even have Osgood-Schlatter disease anymore. Anyways, I was hoping to apply for a pilot slot during the next application cycle in March of 2023, but looks like that's on hold for now. I just got back from my MEPS physical and was told I'd need a waiver for Osgood-Schlatter …

I searched but didn't find anything in the last decade about this topic: I had PRK eye surgery 4 months ago. My eyes were initially each about 20/400 and they are now 20/25 individually, 20/20 when working together. The doc that did my surgery told me there is nothing I can ever do or wear that would get me to 20/20 in each eye due to the “muscles not developing”. That leaves me with two questions: -Has anyone ever heard of a waiver for 20/25 vision that does not correct to the much-desired 20/20? -Flight docs, does that sound correct that there is nothing I could ever do or glasses I could wear that could get my eyes to 20/20 individualy?

Hello so I have been doing some research for months now but it seems like I keep getting different answers everywhere. I was diagnosed with scoliosis recently and its 22 degrees Thoracic and 18 degrees Lumbar... so do I have any chance at a waiver?

Will I be able to get a waiver and keep my flying job with the Air Force with a protein s deficiency? I'm a loadmaster. After developing a DVT in January 2022 I was referred to a hematologist. I was diagnosed with a hereditary protein s deficiency. I've only ever had the one DVT in my leg. I was also on birth control at the time, which was said to definitely have been a contributing factor to developing the DVT. I was on a blood thinner for about 7 months. After seeing 3 different hematologists, one being a blood clotting specialist, it was determined that it was safe for me to discontinue the blood thinner even with being a flyer. My flight doctor is saying wi…

With MHS Genesis being rolled out about 6 months ago, will those of us that have already gone to MEPS before that be subject to some scrutiny regarding new medical records they can pull? Do they use MHS Genesis for FC1, when you arrive at OTS or UPT? Most information I can find involves people just going through MEPS.