When you come to the Medical please bring the following

• Some form of photographic identification; a passport is best, a UK driving license is ok

• Your CAA Number - this is very important; also, when you send emails to me if possible please do include this number

• If you have a previous medical, your most recent medical certificate.

• If you have had significant illnesses in the past please bring along any letters or documents you have on that, unless this has already been previously fully reported to the civil aviation authority through an aeromedical examiner.

• For existing pilots, please do alert me to any illnesses as and when they occur, please do not wait until the subsequent medical. If you are in doubt as to whether illnesses need reporting, do email me. In a nutshell, if you are ill, and get better by yourself and don’t see any professional (e.g. nurse, GP, A and E etc) and don’t take any medicine beyond simple painkillers, you probably don’t need to report this. All other illnesses/consultations should be reported when they happen.

• If you are on prescribed drugs please bring your medication prescription along. 

• As your eyes need to be tested without and with (if necessary) correction, please do not wear contact lenses if you usually do, please wear glasses instead.

• If you need significant eye correction (i.e. wear glasses, use contacts) or have astigmatism or have had previous eye problems or surgery please ask your local optician to fill in a form 162 beforehand. This can be downloaded at the following address

  https://www.caa.co.uk/publication/download/20162

  • For class 1 pilots the frequency of needing form 162 can be found in the certificate validity table, and depends on the strength of your eye prescription.

  • For class 2 pilots, the form 162 should be obtained for your initial, and whenever there is a change in your vision or a significant change in your prescription (e.g. when bifocals/varifocals are first prescribed)

• A urine test will also be undertaken so it is best to arrive with a fullish bladder, please alert Dr Davey if there is an immediate need to go!

• The medical takes about one hour and if satisfactory you will be issued a medical certificate then and there.

• A tip on blood pressure; BP is measured during the medical, and can be raised. Often, but not always, this is due to the stress of the medical. However, your AME won’t know if it is due to stress or is genuinely up, and this matters, BP is an important cause of heart disease, strokes etc all of which affect aeromedical safety. If you might be prone to high BP readings in medicals, with your GP etc, you should measure your BP at home, and bring the readings along. Here is how you do this. For the BP monitor, I suggest an ‘connected’ Omron one (i.e. it uploads BP readings automatically to a free smartphone app - I suggest that you don’t buy any of the additional data analysis software that Omron try and sell you, the basic free package is fine)

If you have any questions or concerns beforehand please do ask, I would be delighted to answer them. I look forward to seeing you and in any case enjoy your flying and stay safe.