A doctor who decides whether a pilot is fit to hold a licence.
The work
An AME is a qualified physician with additional aviation medicine training and a delegation from the regulator. The examination is not a general check-up: it is a specific assessment against a published standard, covering vision, hearing, cardiovascular health, medication and mental health. The finding can end a career, which is why the standards and the appeal routes are written down.
A typical day
- 01Examine pilots and controllers against the class of certificate they hold
- 02Assess whether a condition or a medication is compatible with flying
- 03Refer difficult cases to the regulator rather than deciding alone
- 04Keep up with aviation medicine, which changes as the evidence does
How people get in
- Through medicine
Qualify and practise as a doctor first. Aviation medicine is a designation added afterwards, not a separate degree.
How it unfolds
- Medical schoolFive or six years, then foundation training. Aviation comes later.
- PracticeSeveral years as a licensed physician. The designation requires you to already be a doctor.
- DesignationAviation medicine training and an appointment from the regulator.
- LaterSenior examiner, regulator medical officer, or research in aerospace medicine.
Is there a job in it
- Employed now
- 862,800
- Projected change
- +4% by 2034
- Openings a year
- 22,100
Physicians and surgeons · US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2024 wages and 2024–34 projections.
An AME is a physician first; the designation is added afterwards and is not a separate occupation. These are the figures for physicians and surgeons as a whole.
The hard parts
Your finding can end somebody’s career in a ten-minute appointment, and they know it when they walk in. That changes the consultation: people minimise, and part of the skill is noticing. The standards move as the evidence does, and keeping current is on you.
What you would need
- Clinical assessment
- Aviation medicine standards
- Difficult conversations
- Meticulous records
- Median pay
- $275,930
- Physicians and surgeons, May 2024. US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Typical education
- Medical degree, licence to practise, then aviation medicine training
- Routes in
- Degree, Licence or certification
- Field
- Aviation
