Obtaining or renewing a Medical Certificate

New students will need a third class medical prior to the first solo flight.  Your first issue medical certificate will also have your Student Pilot License printed on the reverse side.  The medical certificate is valid for 5 years from month of issue and the student pilot certificate is valid for 2 years.  Whatever you do, do not throw this piece of paper away!  Even if a new student certificate is required for your practical test, your OLD student pilot certificate will have 2 mandatory endorsements on it.  If you throw this away, you will be required to repeat those flights and obtain new endorsements.

Those students who would like to advance to airline pilot are encouraged to seek a First Class Medical initially.  It would be nice to know if you have an airline disqualifying condition before you spend fifty thousand dollars getting to the interview.  The certificate you receive will be a valid first class medical for six months, then it will automatically downgrade to a valid second class medical for another 30 months, then it will downgrade to a valid third class medical for another two years. 

If you would like to find an AME near your town, search the FAA database here.