Recently, I was catching up with a fellow USAF flight surgeon who is leaving active duty for the greener pastures of civilian residency. When I shared with him that he would qualify for GI Bill compensation as a resident, he seemed shocked and completely unaware of this fact. This is […]
Recently, I’ve been asked several times about age limits to become a pilot in the US Air Force. Age is actually not considered a ‘medical’ standard. In the USAF, flight surgeons use a hefty document, titled the ‘Medical Standards Directory’ (MSD) to determine if pilots and other special duty personnel […]
This short 14 minute documentary featured in the 2007 Sundance Film Festival won’t leave you disappointed. The film invigorates an aged WWII pilot when he is reunited with old video footage of himself taken by his unit’s flight surgeon during the war. The film was directed by William Lorton and produced by […]
This article discusses an awesome opportunity specifically designed for USAF flight surgeons to gain a firmer understanding on fighter and combat aircraft operations. This course is a good use of time for any military flight surgeon, but is an absolute necessity for any flight doc assigned to a fighter squadron, […]
I was recently in Estonia for a NATO military training exercise. Flying in the back seat of an F-16D (two seater), I was ‘gently’ reminded of the importance of human factors in flight and the constant, inherent danger in combat aviation. Even in the training environment, significant risks and aeromedical stressors […]
Most aviators learn early in their career that flying with a simple upper respiratory infection or seasonal allergies can be painful. Gases in the sinuses and middle ear expand in accordance with Boyles Law as altitude increases and pressure decreases. [For a full discussion on the Gas Laws that apply […]
The recent Germanwings tragedy has called commercial aviation’s concept of ‘Fitness for Flight’ into question. In case the reader has just returned from a week long hike in the wilderness and missed the news headlines – on 24 March 2014 an Airbus 320 carrying 150 passengers destined for Dusseldorf, Germany from […]
Have you ever been part of Code Blue (patient in full arrest) that went horribly wrong? Almost all docs have a horror story from either a real-world or (preferably) sim lab scenario where a resuscitation fell apart and ultimately led to catastrophe. What happened? If I’m wagering a bet on the […]
Aerospace and Operational Physiology (AOP) has the unique challenge of bridging physiologic sciences with the operational environment. Many people think “they just work with pilots and do altitude chamber training.” While we do frequently work with pilots and other aircrew, many are unaware of other human factor issues on which […]
BLUF: Bilberry is probably not effective in improving night vision visual acuity or contrast recognition. It recently was brought to my attention that some pilots have added bilberry to their diets and others have been willing to shell out cold hard cash on bilberry extracts or leaves in pill form. Why? For […]
Building a USAF Flight Surgeon: A New Approach to Training Want to work for Elon Musk? FAA & USAF Guidance for COVID-19 Vaccines 
Exposure to hypoxia impairs helicopter pilots’ awareness of environment—Remarkably, the majority of pilots did not notice they were hypoxic or recognise their hypoxia symptoms during the simulation flight at 4572 m.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00140139.2021.1931474
#hypoxia #cognitive #humanperformance
Space tourism is a newly introduced luxury that will potentially become reality very soon, what does it take for space tourists to endure the ride? @Aero_Med leaders are both writing space medicine policies, and history.
#spacemedicine #spacetourism
https://www.forbes.com/sites/saibala/2021/05/23/as-interest-in-space-tourism-booms--new-research-shows-what-may-happen-to-the-body-in-space/
Flying into space is risky even for fit, well-trained #astronauts. Adding space tourists to flights will only boost the odds of something going wrong. What happens then? #MedTwitter #SpaceMedicine #AerospaceMed
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/medical-emergencies-in-space-is-private-space-tourism-ready-for-a-worst-case
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