The standards have to be general and subject to interpretation by the FAA doctors who make the decisions. There is no practical way for all possible medical conditions to be addressed in a regulation. The airman medical standards are minimum standards. Aviation safety is foremost, and each medical history is evaluated on the basis of risk of incapacitation. The FAA also has to consider the prevailing political and legal climate in the course of evaluating an applicant's medical history. Certifying pilots is a bureaucratic process, devoid of purely medical considerations alone. The Airman Medical Standards and Certification Procedures, FAR Part 67, is a maze of medical and legal language that is, in some respects, clear and concise, in others, general and vague. FAA has the most progressive civil aviation medical certification standards in the world. The process takes time, however, and it will be at least two years before the transition is completed. A major overhaul of the system is underway now. There are ongoing problems in the administration of the system that result in some lengthy delays in processing medical applications. The FAA Office of Aviation Medicine regulates, among other things, airman medical certification standards and structures certification policies and processes to reflect medical technology advancements. The FAA Act of 1958 charges the federal government with promoting aviation and maintaining aviation safety standards. The content of the letter may be confusing and just a little intimidating, and it's then that we might begin to wonder just how the FAA medical certification process really works. When pilots complete an application for a new medical certificate, many find themselves on the receiving end of a letter from the FAA that arrives months after the medical examination.
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