THE BASICS OF BASIC MED TODAY
THE BASICS OF BASIC MED TODAY, By Steven Wightman: As a boy in suburban Boston, I lived and played in wetlands shared with an impressive variety of wild and domestic animals. It was like living in a zoo with no fencing. However, I was forbidden to use most of this land because traps had been set down for beavers, muskrats, otters, or whatever stolen fur women wore then. Today, I face another diverse environment ripe with some traps, the FAA Airman Medical Certification we know as Basic Med.
THE BASIC OF BASIC MED TODAY came to be in 2017, culminating in years of advocacy by AOPA and EAA. Today, over 80,000 aviators qualify for Basic Med. Here we will look at the benefits, steps, and the gotchas.
Benefits. No Airman Medical Examined, AME, is required. Before 2017, every pilot had to get a nod from a state-licensed MD. Now with Basic Med, we can ask our own personal physician to sign us off. Most will happily do so. This saves time, money, and scheduling logjams. All good. Your Doc must still conduct an FAA standard physical examination. Moreover, once completed and barring a special issuance request, you will get an immediate go/no answer. Renewing your Basic Med is a four-step process.
- Go to https://www.aopa.org/advocacy/pilots/medical/basicmed and get your Comprehensive Medical Examination Checklist, CMEC. Here you will see if you are eligible for Basic Med and complete a self-assessment.
- Bring your CMEC papers to your MD for a Basic Med physical examination. Have your Doc fill out the rest of the exam checklist. You will need this for step 3 and for your 24-month renewal.
- Take an online course, pass the quiz, complete the post-course form, AND submit your exam information to the FAA to earn your Basic Med certification.
- File your course completion certificate and completed CMEC in your logbook or electronically.
Congratulations, you are done now – maybe. But remember the Gotchas? There are two top ones; first, if your physical or mental health has changed significantly, FAA says you must inform them promptly. AOPA or EAA can help you with answers. Second, if your driver’s license expires you cannot legally fly as Pilot– In –Command. So, keep an eye on your expiration date and renew at least a month before the deadline to keep yourself in the air. A big benefit is that this self-assessment is a great mirror of our health and fitness. It’s something to consider if we want to be healthier and what we could do to achieve that. That is a good thing especially if you do not like the sound of a trap snapping shut.
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