        Student Pilot
      

Your first FAA medical certificate, explained as you go.

Dr. Edmondson performs initial medical certifications for student pilots. If this is your first FAA exam, nothing about the process is obvious, so we walk through each step with you.

Book an exam $210 flat

What a first medical involves

Student pilots exercising solo privileges need at least a Third Class medical certificate. The exam is the same protocol every pilot goes through: vision, hearing, vitals, urinalysis, and a general physical against the FAA standards, preceded by a review of the health history you file online.

A Third Class certificate issued before your 40th birthday is valid for 60 months. For most student pilots, one exam covers training and the first years of flying afterward.

Your first time, step by step

The paperwork trips up more first-time applicants than the physical does.

Create a MedXPress account

FAA Form 8500-8 is filed online, not in our office. You will get a confirmation number. First exam? Read the FAA's Know Before You Go (opens in new tab) first.

Answer the history honestly

Every question matters. If something needs supporting records, it is much easier to gather them before the exam.

Bring the confirmation number

Along with a government photo ID and any corrective lenses you use.

Come to the appointment

Plan for a straightforward visit. Ask questions; that is what the appointment is for.

Leave with your certificate

Qualified applicants are issued at the time of the exam.

If something in your history is complicated

Some conditions and medications require the FAA to review the application rather than the examiner issuing on the spot. That is not a denial, and it is not unusual.

Dr. Edmondson handles complex histories and special issuance cases regularly and will tell you exactly what the FAA needs. See special issuance and complex cases.

Business jet parked on a mountain-desert ramp

First solo

Everything after this starts with one appointment.