AMEs are private physicians, not employees of the
Federal Aviation Authority ( FAA). Interested physicians apply through their regional flight surgeon's office. If selected and authorized, they are trained through a national process. A pilot can go to any examiner from a list of designated doctors and undergo an examination at any time. New AMEs are designated based upon the local demand for aeromedical certification services. All AMEs may issue second-class or third-class certificates. Some AMEs are designated "senior aviation medical examiner", and may issue first-class certificates, which are required for pilots flying in air carrier operations. A specialized subset of AMEs, known as
HIMS Aviation Medical Examiners (HIMS AMEs), complete additional FAA-required training to evaluate and monitor aviation professionals participating in the
Human Intervention Motivation Study (HIMS) substance use disorder program; as of 2019, only 204 AMEs held HIMS AME certification nationally. An AME can no longer issue combined medical/
student pilot certificates as the FAA now issues separate student pilot certificates as of April 1, 2016. As of 2008, the FAA had approximately 3,927 civilian AME's located in 9 regions, 291 international AMEs located in 81 countries, and 350 federal AMEs (military, U.S. Coast Guard,
NASA, and other agencies). == AMEs in Europe ==