The Civil Aerospace
Medical Institute
An International
Resource
Welcome to
The FAA Civil
Aerospace Medical
Institute...
CAMI
is the medical certification,
research, education, and
occupational health wing of the FAA ’s Office of
Aerospace Medicine. The goal of our activities
is to enhance aviation safety.
After America’s first successful flight in
1903, the first aviation fatality could not be far
off. Amazingly, five years would pass before the
first fatal accident. Since then, safety has
been an important concern. In 1926, the Civil
Aeronautics Act marshaled the talents of the
medical profession to certify that all aviators are
physically fit to fly.
Thus, our principal concern at CAMI is the
human element in flight—pilots, flight attendants,
passengers, air traffic controllers—and
the entire human support system that embraces
civil aviation. We study the factors that influence
human performance in the aerospace
environment, find ways to understand them,
and communicate that understanding to the
aviation community.
The Institute’s people—researchers,
physicians and other medical specialists,
engineers, educators, pilots, technicians, and
communicators—all merged as a team in 1961
at our centralized Oklahoma City facility. Since
then, the CAMI team’s synergistic products
serve people everywhere as they safely and
routinely achieve one of the oldest of human
dreams: Flight!
he Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
has more than a dozen complex
labs and large-scale, computerized health
system and performance databases. Our
most important resource is our staff. These
professionals are dedicated to their work at
the Institute—serving an aviation community
and public that rely upon safe, dependable air
transportation.
The Civil Aerospace Medical Institute is located at the Mike
Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Apply to bec
ome an Aviation Medical Examiner
for the FAA:
designee.faa.gov
GENERAL INFORMA TION FOR PHYSICIANS
www.faa.gov/
• Continuing medical education for aviation medical
examiners
. . .go/ametraining
• Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners
. . .go/ameguide
FOR RESEARCHERS
• Office of Aerospace Medicine Technical Reports
. . .go/oamtechreports
• Civil Aerospace Medical Institute Library
. . .go/aeromedlibrary
OK-17-1899 (rev. 9/15/17)
To access this brochure online: http://www.faa.gov/
pilots/safety/pilotsafetybrochures/
Apply for medical certification online:
medxpress.faa.gov/medxpress
FOR PILOTS
• Locate an aviation medical examiner in your area
. . .pilots/ameloc ator
• Aircrew and passenger health information
. . .passengers/fl y_safe/health
• Aerospace Physiology, Spatial Disorientation,
Post-Crash Survival and Human Factors Training
. . .pilots/training/air man_education
Or contact us:
Director, Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, AAM-3
Federal Aviation Administration, MMAC, CAMI
P .O. Box 25082
Oklahoma City, OK 73125
405-954-1000
https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_
offices/avs/offices/aa
m/cami/
Aerospace Medical
Certification
ince 1926, the Federal Aviation Administration has
developed and utilized health standards to assure
the safety of all who fly. By federal law, all aviators must
be medically certified.
The Aerospace Medical Certification Division’s
three branches administer the national medical
certific
ation program including a repository of airmen
medical records and a system for processing about a
half million medical applications annually.
Medical Review and Appeals
• Determines the disposition of special issuances
and appeal cases, manages medical elements
of the DUI/DWI program, and develops national
program guidance.
Medical Officer
• Determines medical qualifications for complex
medical conditions referred by legal instrument
examiners for further review: supports specialty
panels at the request of the Federal Air Surgeon
and assists the Medical Education Division with
seminar presentations.
Medical Systems
• Manages automated systems for the collection and
dissemination of medical and statistical data,
including pilot records and EKG repository.
Medical examinations from Aviation Medical Examiners are
transmitted and reviewed by a legal instruments examiner
or physician.
Bottom line: Greatly enhanced service
to the aviation community.
Aerospace Medical Education
he FAA is mandated by law to promote the
safest and most efficient aerospace system in the
world. One way the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
promotes aviation safety is through Aerospace Medical
Education programs that
• Train and evaluate the performance of Aviation Medical
Examiners, a global workforce of specialized physicians
appointed under
the FAA Designee
Management Program
to perform pilot
medical examinations.
• Train civil aviation
pilots and FAA aircrews
in aviation physiology,
post-crash survival skills,
and human factors.
• Educate agency
employees and the
public using specialized
educational interventions.
• Disseminate
aeromedical information
to the civil aviation
community through
publications, lectures, and
practical demonstrations.
• Provide specialized
Civil Aerospace Medical
Institute Library services.
Accredited CME refresher training is
delivered through distance learning
as well as face-to-face seminars.
CAMI’s General Avia
tion Pilot
Trainers teach pilots to recognize
and manage the hazards of spatial
disorientation.
Hypoxia recognit
ion training for General Aviation and
Commercial pilots using the Portable Reduced Oxygen Training
Enclosure (PROTE).
Bottom line: Educat ion and training solutions
that directly enhance aviation safety.
Aerospace Human
Factors Rese
arch
uman Factors are the characteristics of human
beings that are applicable to the design of systems
and devices of all kinds. These include selecting the
right person for the job or determining the skills, tasks,
training, and equipment that influence performance.
This is especially important for safety-critical jobs like
those of aircrew members and air traffic controllers.
Human Factors scientists perform these functions
within two research laboratories:
Flight Deck
• Determines the effects of stressors on human
performance, identifies human factors involved
in accidents and incidents, quantifies the effe cts
of advanced FAA NextGen displays, procedures,
and task design on pilot performance.
National Airspace System (NAS) Safety
• Examines person-job fit through training and
changes to technology and the relationship of
factors affecting individuals, teams, and
organizations in the work environment.
ATCARRS –
Air Traffic
Control Advanced
Radar Research
Simulator.
The Frasca flight
si
mulator features
an accurate Cessna
Citation Mustang
Very Light Jet
flight deck.
Bottom line: Improving performance,
efficiency, and overall aviation safety.
Aerospace Medical Research
erospace medical issues including safety risks are
studied by scientists, physicians, and engineers
working in research teams.
Bioaeronautical Sciences Research
• The Forensic Toxicology and Biochemistry teams
develop laboratory methods, conduct research on
accident fatalities, and serve as the primary national site
for toxicology testing for federal agencies, including the
National Transportation Safety Board.
• The Functional Genomics
team is the pioneer in fatigue
and hypoxia biomarker research
pertinent to aviation safety.
• The Autopsy team collects,
manages, and maintains all
autopsy records proceeding
from the investigation of U.S.
fatal aircraft accidents.
• The Knowledge Management team studies
bioaeronautical information technology.
CAMI scientists suppor
aircraft accident
investigation.
Protection and Survival Research
• The Cabin Safety, Biodynamics, and Environmental
Physiology teams are key contributors to the development
of aviation safety equipment standards and survival
procedures.
• The Medical team maintains
unique information systems
that facilitate the aeromedical
review of aircraft accidents.
• The Numerical Sciences
team is the national source
of expertise for cosmic
radiation events of
aeromedical concern.
CAMI engineers co
nduct
impact studies in a sled.
FlexSim “Flexible
Aircraft Cabin
Simulator realistically
simulates evacuation
scenarios during fires
and various in-flight
emergencies. ”
Bottom line: Discove
ry of methods that enhance
human safety, security, health, and performance in
aerospace operations.
Occupational Health
AMI’s occupational health professionals
provide clinical and medical services for agency
employees at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical
Center. With a clinical mission to facilitate quick
return to duty or to class at the FAA Academy, the
medical and clinical staff also provide occupational
health services for programs mandated by the
Occupational Safety and Health Act and Executive
Order 12196, Occupational Safety and Health
Programs for Federal Employees. Aviation Medical
Examiner flight surgeons perform flight physicals on
FAA pilots, as well as lead the Institutional Review
Board (IRB).
Occupational health
programs help to
improve the health
and safety of FAA
employees who work in
potentially hazardous
locations across the
country and around
the world.
Bottom line: Impro
ving occupational health
by minimizing sick leave use and
lost productivity.