Current FAA Medical Process for ADHD Deferrals (3rd Class)
My previous post had enough interest for a write up, I decided to create my own post. (Admins - if not allowed, please let me know before deleting so I can copy my text without having to rewrite it). Below is a rough timeline for my application for a 3rd class medical with an ADHD diagnosis. My apologies in advance for anyone applying for a 2nd or 1st class - I can imagine the process is roughly the same, however the end decision criteria might be different.
Started flight training September of 2020 - went to go in for medical October of 2020.
OCT 2020 - appointment with AME for 3rd class medical. Basic stuff that anyone else expects (I was one of the guys who both didn't have proper guidance before going, and didn't do my due diligence about medicals beforehand) I'll put all of the blame on myself, but for anyone else - make sure you talk with your instructor about the process of getting a medical, and what is disqualifying and what is not.
This subreddit has a lot of great information you should read before going to see your AME officially.
During the appointment, the topic came up about a current ADHD medication i had been using - after some chatter, he told me he could not approve my medical, and he would have to send it off to OKC for a deferral. He gave me a generic sheet from the FAA website about the ADHD process, and told me to contact a HIMS AME (specialty docs certified for flight med) to get started.
OCT 2020 Part 2 - Call the HIMS AME like i was told to do - was told that I cannot simply schedule an appointment - I would need to wait for a letter from the FAA mandating that I get a psych test done in order to get a med. Cue the waiting game.
Dec 2020 - FAA sends me a letter requesting all records from my treating physician for ADHD. The sheet you can find online and the one my AME gave me broke down exactly what would be needed from the FAA, and what I would need to do. So I already had the records ready to send. As soon as I got the letter from the FAA, I immediately sent the requested records back. Although I will mention, I was seeing a chiro at the time for some general neck stiffness. They wanted full records on that as well. Cue waiting game #2.
By this point I had already spoken with a HIMS AME out of a neighboring state (none located in my state - you can find a list of approved HIMS docs on the sheet I have talked about - do a quick "FAA ADHD Medical" google search and you'll find the form. I was now waiting again for the FAA to come back with a letter telling me I would need an evaluation.
March 2021 - Decline of Medical from FAA - I got a letter in the mail notifying me they declined my request for a medical. If I wished for a reconsideration, I would need to
- Go to a HIMS Neuropsychologist to have them preform a battery of tests as an evaluation for ADHD.
- Be off any ADHD meds for 90 days.
- Take a pee test.
- Send records to the HIMS Doc (records such as drivers records, academic records if diagnosed as a child, all medical records of ADHD, and any records I might have from prior psych help, etc.)
Again - I knew the decline was coming, and was prepared with all information I could get. I scheduled an appointment with my HIMS doc for April 2021.
April 2021 - Neuropsych appointment with HIMS AME - There is a really great write up on this sub from someone who went through the testing battery. I won't do a detailed write up of the whole appointment, but the basics of it were
- a general get to know you conversation,
- a cognitive screening (CogScreen-AE) which is a computerized test from the early 2000's you do with a stylus and keyboard. Kind of fun - you do tasks like using a keyboard to keep a line balanced on a "see-saw". as well as other tasks like number memorization in patterns. Some of it is difficult, some is boring.
- You do a language speaking exercise, learning and memory, academic skills, and some other tests.
- Again - read the detailed write up from before on the testing.
Cost of the appointment for me was $2800 cash. (somewhat on the cheaper side unfortunately). Your doc can not tell you the outcome on the spot - their job is to create a report and send it to the FAA who will decide. If you have an obvious severity, they will likely tell you that the odds are not great. Otherwise, mine said "I don't see any issues - I'll write up the report and send you a copy - you should hear from me in 30 days or so"
April 2020 Part 2 - Urine Test - My AME was nearly useless in this whole process - he was difficult to get in contact with, could not offer any guidance, and pretty much useless as far as the ADHD process goes.
You need to take a pee test and have the data sent to your HIMS doc - MAKE SURE THE TEST YOU SCHEULDE INCLUDES TESTING FOR THE PROPER CHEMICALS. The Urine test needs to be done within 24 hours of the Psych test and I spent all of those hours arguing with his staff about what I need included on the Urine test. They tried sending me in for a general DOT drug test and that will not cut it. The aforementioned sheet above breaks down what exactly needs to be tested. Make sure you are tested for it, or you may be spending another couple grand and a road trip to retake your cogscreen.
May 2021 - After a month of waiting for my HIMS doc to do the write up, she called to let me know that is was complete, she had all the records she needed, and she would be sending it off to OKC. #WIN. Cue the longest waiting game ever.
I called multiple times a week for months (as others have said on here before, if you call "every other business day" or something along those lines, you get flagged as "excited and eager" and they will bump you up the list. Not sure how true this is. I called enough to be on a first name basis with everyone who answered the phone at "DJW".
May 2021 - FAA received my documents and my application was "In Review".
August 16th, 2021 - as my post yesterday said, I was given great news that my app was finally approved. The only conditions I had were to wear glasses (not even sure why they put that - my vision is nearly 20/20 - i wear glasses to help with work) I stopped flying months ago. Will eventually be able to pick it back up.
10 months after going in for my AME visit, I am approved. Let it be known that after that first visit, I was extremely prepared for everything. I knew what the FAA would be sending, and had everything ready to send back or be scheduled. 99% of my time was waiting on the FAA (sigh) and about 30 days waiting for my HIMs doc to write up the report. You can help yourself greatly by being prepared.
Hope this helps guide anyone going through the process - happy to answer any questions as well.
