gallois wrote:
They only serve a useful purpose to those who would not go to the doctor, however unwell they feel. For those that take their health seriously, they do little or nothing.
Their main purpose is to differentiate between this two groups!
Very sorry to hear your story: Whenever bureaucracy gets in touch with medical practice, bad things happen. State officials simply do not care too much about individuals and therefore they don’t care if you can fly or not. There attitude is to rather ground 100 pilots unnecessarily than to have one case where the pilot got a medical and later had a crash for medical reasons.
I’ve always taken my prescription from the opticians to the medical. It’s no bother because my contact lens supply contract requires that I go for a (free, included with the contact lenses) eye test once every two years anyway.
That said, I could say nothing and just do the eye test – the doc is not going to know that I’ve got contact lenses in. However I bet the CAA medical records will give it away, so perhaps I could have done it from the start but not now.
@gallois that is all completely outrageous, sorry to hear it. The primary driving force is, of course, a systemic desire to keep as much of your money as possible flowing to those who work ‘in the system’.
I also give my AME my optical prescription but I still get the eye tests.
It’s not a question of money, it all costs less than €100.
I simply do not want to have radioactive stuff pumped into me every three years, plus all in all it takes about 6 hours. The other factor is that it serves no useful purpose. If it did I would accept the ruling.
Thanks everyone for your advice on this. I am in Brittany, so he closest airport being Lorient. This could well be an uphill struggle.
It should not be a struggle. It only normally becomes a struggle when you have to deal with the DGAC’s Pôle Médicale.
Have you printed off the form that you.fill in and take with you?
And if you are over xx? have you checked that the AME has the kit to do the ECG? It seems to be about 50/50 at the moment.
Just in case:-
Formulaire_pour_demande_de_certificat_medical_aptitude_281_29_pdf
DavidA wrote:
Thanks everyone for your advice on this. I am in Brittany, so he closest airport being Lorient. This could well be an uphill struggle.
I did my latest medical in Brittany in ‘La Trinité sur Mer’ last summer. The AME was alright and it cost me 60 Euros. If you need I can find his contact details, no idea if he speaks English though…
This might be of use to you if you have not yet found an AME
liste_medecins_examinateurs_agrees_dgac_classe_deux_pdf
@DavidA When I contact the AME for an appointment I ask what I need to do (usually blood test & ECG in my case). Yes, its a faf having to then go to my GP for the prescription, but hey, its the french “everybody wants some money” health care system. I take the results with me to the AME, fill in the form, he then does the physical, then fills in the Class 2 medical card for me and sends everything off the the DGAC.
The AMEs arent always near an airport – mine isnt – look on the pdf I posted the link to earlier.
Regards, SD..
I posted the list here also. My AME is a GP working in a small village about 20min drive away. He has his own ECG kit and doesn’t charge any extra to use it. The only extra is the postage to sent the dossier to the DGAC.
My first AME was the head of maternity at the local hospital, so sometimes I had to wait whilst he delivered a baby. I didn’t need an ECG back then. I later went to a Medical for Sports Centre which had all sorts of kit including ECGs. My medical then was €60 including ECG.
The maximum I have paid for a medical, including ECG is now at €75. But because of the medical situation I wrote about before I have had also to.pay €75 for an effort test with a cardiologist.
Of course under the French system, if you go to your GP you pay around €25 which you get back from the 70% from the State and the other 30% from your mutual insurance. The €75 for the AME you have to pay out of your own pocket.
Like gallois, my first two medicals in France were with a small town doctor who was laid back and keen to talk about aeroplanes; the aeromedical was a genteel hobby. From memory it was about €40 back then (2007, 2009). He’s still listed in the pdf posted by skydriller and gallois [nostalgic smile].
In comparison, my UK medicals (CAA, then local doctor) have been more expensive (£180 in 2017) and more ‘professional’.
You shouldn’t have a big problem with a medical in France. Your aeroclub will recommend the best doctor, and provide advice if anything is needed beforehand.
Peter wrote:
Oh and BTW never tell an optician you are a pilot. They go crazy.
I had to get an eye test after my 2017 UK medical; I didn’t fully understand why. At Specsavers I got full red carpet treatment and hostess service 
like an airline pilot in the 1960s.
