Flight surgeon A flight surgeon is a military medical officer assigned to duties in the clinical field variously known as aviation medicine , aerospace medicine , or flight medicine . Although the term " flight surgery " is considered improper , it may occasionally be encountered . Flight surgeons are physicians , either Doctors of Medicine ( M . D . ) or Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine ( D . O . ) , who are primarily responsible for the medical evaluation , certification and treatment of military aviation personnel — e . g . , pilots , Naval Flight Officer s , navigators / Combat Systems Officer s , astronauts , air traffic controller s , UAV operators and other aircrew members , both officer and enlisted . They perform routine , periodic medical examinations ( " flight physical s " ) of these personnel , as well as initially examine / treat these personnel when ill or following an aircraft mishap . In the U . S military , flight surgeons are trained to fill general public health and occupational and preventive medicine roles , and are only infrequently " surgeons " in an operating theater sense . Flight surgeons are typically on flight status ( i . e . , they log flight hours in military aircraft as a crewmember ) , but are not required to be rated or licensed pilots , naval flight officers , or navigators / CSOs . They may be called upon to provide medical consultation as members of an investigation board into a military or NASA aviation or spaceflight mishap . Occasionally , they may serve to provide in - flight care to patients being evacuated via aeromedical evacuation , either fixed wing or rotary wing . The civilian equivalent of the flight surgeon is the Aviation Medical Examiner ( AME ) . Some civilian AMEs have training similar to that of military flight surgeons , and some are either retired military flight surgeons or actively serving flight surgeons in a military Reserve Component . History . World War I . The term “ flight surgeon ” originated in the early months of 1918 when the U . S . Air Medical Service of the U . S . Army collaborated with two civilian aviation organizations — the Aero Club of America and the Aerial League of America — to manage problems of medical screening and standards for U . S . military aviators . The term is especially associated with Colonel ( later Brigadier General ) Theodore C . Lyster ( the first Chief Surgeon , Aviation Section , U . S . Signal Corps , U . S . Army ) , and with Major Isaac H . Jones . These two officers proposed the organization of a “ Care of the Flier ” unit in June 1918 . The original intent was for the military and the Surgeon General to understand what was causing the high flight mishap rate . Shortly after the appointment of the first flight surgeons , research and experience led to a dramatic improvement in aircrew health as well as a significant raising of the entry medical standards for all aircrew . The early flight surgeons found that the Army ' s practice of assigning officers to flight duty who were not physically qualified for infantry or cavalry duty was improper . Because of the G - forces , risk of spatial disorientation , and risk of hypoxia encountered in the aviation environment , among other challenges , early flight surgeons found that aviation personnel must be scrupulously healthy and well trained in the basics of aerospace physiology . World War II . The role of flight surgeons continued to mature and expand as the U . S . faced World War II . The 1941 movie " Dive Bomber " , although focused on Naval Aviation , highlighted the role of the flight surgeon just prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor , and demonstrated how solving the problems of hypoxia at altitude would reduce the aircraft mishap rate . During World War II , the head of the U . S . Army Air Forces , General of the Army ( later General of the Air Force ) Henry ' Hap ' Arnold , directed all flight surgeons in the Army Air Forces to fly regularly with their patients in order to better understand the aviation environment . Consequently , to this day , their successor U . S . Air Force Flight Surgeons are considered " aeronautically rated " aircrew members who receive flight pay and who are required to fly a certain number of hours monthly . The same policy applies to Army Flight Surgeons and to Naval Flight Surgeons , the latter who are considered " aeronautically designated " officers like their Naval Aviator and Naval Flight Officer counterparts . Strict racial segregation in the U . S . Army required the development of separate black flight surgeons to support the operations and training of the Tuskegee Airmen in 1941 and continued in the U . S . Army Air Forces throughout World War II . Following the establishment of an independent U . S . Air Force and the racial integration of all the U . S . armed forces following World War II , this separation was discontinued . Training . The position of flight surgeon requires additional specialized training beyond traditional medical school , training which is both military and medical in nature . Flight Surgeon training was created as distinct from other medical professionals in the armed forces because of the special , and often higher , minimum standards of fitness and physical requirements required by the extremely high responsibility positions of aviators and ancillary aviation personnel . For example , some routine treatments , such as certain antihistamines , when administered to aviation personnel , are cause for temporary grounding ( loss of flying privileges ) until the therapy and its effects are completed . Further , the whole " mindset " of aviation / flight medicine practitioners is different from that of non - aviation physicians . Most medical problems on the ground are " an abnormal response to a normal environment " , while in aviation the clinician must consider the " normal response to an abnormal environment . " Flight surgeon training varies depending on the branch of military service : U . S . Air Force . In the U . S . Air Force , most flight surgeons receive initial training at the U . S . Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine ( USAFSAM ) at Wright - Patterson AFB , Ohio . The entry curriculum is known as the Aerospace Medicine Primary ( AMP ) Course , an eight week curriculum that involves aeromedical topics as well as aircrew and survival training . AMP is a combination of didactic and laboratory experiences designed to prepare USAF medical officers for basic mission qualification to perform duties in support of the objectives of the USAF Aerospace Medicine Program . Some Air Force Flight Surgeons ultimately move on to the Residency in Aerospace Medicine ( RAM ) , a three - year program involving a Master of Public Health , a year of aerospace medical training , and a year of either occupational or preventive medical training . Graduates of the RAM are eligible to be double - boarded in Aerospace Medicine and either Occupational or Preventive Medicine , and are generally assigned to supervise other flight surgeons or medical units . The RAM also involves Medical Officer Flight Familiarization Training ( MOFFT ) , during which the flight surgeon receives abbreviated ground school and some basic pilot training in the T - 6 Texan II . Consequently , a RAM has some actual piloting experience and some training toward initial qualification , although the aeronautical rating of USAF Pilot is not awarded . A limited number of USAF Flight Surgeons may also perform duties as Pilot - Physicians ( Air Force Specialty Code 48VX ) . Pilot - Physicians initially begin their USAF service as line officer pilots , later transferring to the USAF medical corps in order to attend medical school . The purpose of pilot - physicians is to provide " integrated operational and aerospace medicine guidance " in the research , development , testing , and evaluation of Air Force systems and missions to realize the greatest effectiveness and cost savings . Pilot - physicians were previously assigned only to an operational flying squadron in their respective aircraft , with their main assignment as a pilot , but also with clinical duties seeing patients , usually the flight medicine clinic , depending on the pilot - physician ' s medical specialty . On 21 April 2011 the USAF Pilot - Physician Program ( PPP ) was completely revised to make " . . . the most of the special resources of Air Force officers who are simultaneously qualified both as pilots and flight surgeons . . . " , with a senior pilot - physician selected by the Air Force Surgeon General to be Program Director , and assignment of designated command , staff , research , training , and education billets as well as duty in operational units . A P48VX Air Force Specialty Code ( AFSC ) is assigned to those medical officers on aeronautical orders as a pilot - physician and assigned to one of these designated PPP billets . Pilot - Physicians are entitled to conditional flight pay ( i . e . , Aviation Career Incentive Pay or ACIP ) , that is , only if assigned to an active flying position and flying a prescribed number of hours monthly . In addition to being a rated pilot and a rated flight surgeon , a pilot - physician must have completed at least three years of operational flying and one year as an operational flight surgeon , with a provision for assigning applicants without flight surgeon operational experience to a base where they would likely become a " first assignment pilot - physician " . The revised program allows flight surgeons access to undergraduate pilot training and remotely piloted aircraft ( RPA ) pilot training ( one slot per year ) ; allows participation of flight surgeons with prior experience as USAF Combat Systems Officer s / Navigators / Electronic Warfare Officers / Weapons Systems Officers , RPA sensor operators , and flight test engineers as navigator - physicians or flight test - physicians ; and authorizes pilot - physicians to compete for assignment to the USAF Test Pilot School . Pilot - physicians are defined by four core competencies to achieve program objectives : ( 1 ) Providing expert guidance through the synthesis of operational and medical experience ; ( 2 ) Conducting research by applying operational insights to studies , basic and applied science , relevant research , development , test & evaluation ( RDT & E ) , and operational test & evaluation ( OT & E ) ; ( 3 ) Teaching aircrew , senior Air Force leaders , and medical personnel on subjects of particular expertise , and ( 4 ) Conducting analysis to provide recommendations for operational systems , environments , and mishaps ; and solutions to human performance problems . Pilot - physicians are eligible for advanced ratings as both flight surgeons and pilots . They may apply toward advanced pilot ratings any USAF pilot years of aviation service , months of operational flying duty , and total flying hours accrued before achieving flight surgeon status . After attaining status as a pilot - physician , all hours flown as a pilot , and months of operational flying duty credit accrued as a pilot , are " dual - credited " toward both advanced pilot and flight surgeon ratings as long as the officer is on aeronautical orders as an active pilot - physician . USAF Flight Surgeons hold three different rating levels , Flight Surgeon , Senior Flight Surgeon and Chief Flight Surgeon , contingent upon years of service as a flight surgeon and total flight hours logged . Air Force Flight Surgeons serve throughout the flying activities of the U . S . Air Force , to include flight surgeons in the Air Reserve Component who serve in the Air Force Reserve Command ( AFRC ) and the Air National Guard ( ANG ) . U . S . Navy . In the U . S . Navy , initial flight surgeon training is conducted via the Flight Surgeon Primary Course at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute ( NAMI ) at NAS Pensacola , Florida . The Flight Surgeon Primary Course is significantly longer than its USAF counterpart and involves a lengthier and more robust version of MOFFT for " all " candidates , so that " all " Navy flight surgeons have some formal pilot training in the T - 6 Texan II aircraft , up to the " safe for solo " point in training as well as 5 flights in the Navy TH - 57 training helicopter . Naval Flight Surgeons may also attend a three - year RAM training program that is distinct from the USAF program . Following training , nearly all Naval Flight Surgeons will be assigned to a deployable Navy or Marine Corps combat aviation squadron in the Fleet ( USN ) or Fleet Marine Force ( USMC ) . More senior flight surgeons will later be assigned to the staffs of carrier air wing s , Marine Aircraft Groups , the Medical Departments of amphibious assault ship s or aircraft carrier s , or the staffs of Naval Hospitals or Naval Branch Clinics aboard Naval Air Station s and Marine Corps Air Stations . A small number of Naval Flight Surgeons are also " dual - designated " as Naval Aviator s or Naval Flight Officer s , having either been former unrestricted line officer pilots and NFOs who transfer to the Navy ' s Medical Corps , attend medical schools , and later qualify as Naval Flight Surgeons ; or previously designated Naval Flight Surgeons selected for a full flight training as Student Naval Aviators . These latter officers are also awarded Naval Aviator insignia , but remain in the Medical Corps as " dual designator " officers , qualified as both a Naval Aviator and a Naval Flight Surgeon and wearing both insignia . Such officers are often assigned as research pilots . Naval Flight Surgeons provide support to aviation units and personnel of both the U . S . Navy and the U . S . Marine Corps , to include aviation units and personnel of the Navy Reserve and the Marine Corps Reserve . U . S . Army . Since the separation of the U . S . Army Air Force from the Army as the U . S . Air Force in 1947 , Army flight surgeons have primarily focused on the health and fitness of the Army ' s rotary wing aviators . Most Army flight surgeons graduate from a basic course of 6 weeks taught at the U . S . Army School of Aviation Medicine at Fort Rucker , Alabama , and are then assigned to their units . After some experience in the field , Army flight surgeons are then eligible to participate in a RAM program as described above . In the past , most Army RAMs have participated in the USAF program , but many take part in the USN program , while a few study in the only US civilian RAM program , located at Wright State University . RAM training is the equivalent of other specialty residency training in the United States , and a graduate of the program can take board certification tests and is then considered a fully - fledged specialist . Like their USAF counterparts , Army flight surgeons also hold three different rating levels , Flight Surgeon , Senior Flight Surgeon and Master Flight Surgeon , contingent upon years of service as a flight surgeon and total flight hours logged . Army flight surgeons support all active duty Army Aviation units and personnel , as well as those in the Army Reserve and Army National Guard . Other Nations . The training requirements for military flight surgeons in nations other than the United States are different — for example , in the United Kingdom , Aviation Medicine is considered a sub - specialty of Occupational Medicine rather than a fully separate specialty . Thus , Royal Air Force , Royal Navy and British Army specialists in Aviation Medicine are usually required to be specialists in Occupational Medicine before undertaking the specialised training in Aviation Medicine .