CAMA's AME education centers on its annual scientific meeting and the FAA-sanctioned CAMA refresher seminar, a three-day event that fulfills the FAA's recurrent training requirement for designated Aviation Medical Examiners. The 2026 meeting runs October 22-24 in Dayton, Ohio. Registration goes through CAMA and requires a Designee Management System account; physicians who are not yet designated AMEs need prior approval from the FAA first.
What CAMA education actually is
CAMA is a professional association for aviation medical professionals, and its education centers on an annual scientific meeting and AME training seminars. It is not itself a certification.
The Civil Aviation Medical Association (CAMA) is a membership organization for FAA-designated Aviation Medical Examiners, aviation agency personnel, and physicians who evaluate pilots or have an interest in aviation safety. An Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) is a physician the FAA designates to perform medical examinations for pilots.
That distinction shapes everything else in this guide. The FAA grants and renews AME designation. CAMA supports designated examiners with education and advocacy, anchored by a scientific and educational meeting held each fall. If your goal is the education, you register with CAMA. If your goal is the designation itself, the FAA is your starting point, as the next sections explain.
The FAA-sanctioned seminar and recurrent training
The FAA sanctions the CAMA seminar, a three-day event that satisfies the AME recurrent training requirement. At the annual meeting, recertification credit depends on passing the FAA AME test given during the meeting.
The FAA's seminar schedule describes the CAMA offering as a three-day seminar sanctioned by the FAA and sponsored by CAMA. It fulfills the AME recurrent training requirement, the periodic update every designated examiner must complete. Registration is made through CAMA, which charges its own registration fee.
The annual scientific meeting carries the same sanction: the FAA accepts it as meeting AME recertification training requirements, provided attendees successfully complete the FAA AME test administered during the meeting. Continuing Medical Education credit has been applied for and is intended to be available to registered medical professionals.
In plain terms: attend, pass the test given at the meeting, and the event counts toward your required recurrent training. The training requirement itself belongs to the FAA system, not to CAMA.
Sources: Annual Meetings – Civil Aviation Medical Association — 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting section; AME Seminar Schedule | Federal Aviation Administration — Seminar types and registration
2026 dates, location, and booking window
The 2026 CAMA Annual Scientific Meeting takes place October 22-24 in Dayton, Ohio, with a discounted hotel rate available until September 28, 2026.
CAMA lists the 2026 meeting at the Marriott at the University of Dayton, October 22-24. The FAA's schedule lists that same week as a CAMA Refresher in Dayton, so both organizations point to the identical event.
Guests can book the discounted hotel rate of $154 per night plus applicable taxes through CAMA's reservation link or by phone, mentioning the CAMA conference. Reservations must be made by September 28, 2026. The FAA also advises making travel and lodging refundable, because an in-person seminar may be rescheduled as virtual with little notice. CAMA notes the schedule of events is still being finalized and will be published on its site.
Sources: Annual Meetings – Civil Aviation Medical Association — 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting section; Civil Aviation Medical Association (homepage); AME Seminar Schedule | Federal Aviation Administration — Seminar types and registration
Registering: accounts, approval, and the path to designation
Seminar registration requires a Designee Management System account. Physicians who are not yet designated AMEs must request and receive prior FAA approval before registering, and future examiners start by contacting their FAA Regional Office.
All FAA seminar registration runs through a Designee Management System (DMS) account, the FAA's system for managing its designees. If you are not currently a designated AME, you cannot simply sign up: you must request and receive prior approval to register, directed to the FAA's Aerospace Medical Education Division.
If your goal is to become an AME, the FAA directs you to contact the Regional Office responsible for your locality. The Basic seminar, a four-and-a-half day event in Oklahoma City, is the course that prepares physicians for designation, and priority is given to applicants submitted by Regional Flight Surgeons. Refresher seminars, by contrast, serve already-designated examiners and fulfill the recurrent requirement.
The CAMA seminar sits in that refresher category: a longer three-day variant sponsored by CAMA rather than the FAA directly. It is a training venue for designated examiners, not a shortcut into designation.
Practice decision
Match each physician to the correct next step, using the FAA's published registration rules. Physician A is board-certified, has never held AME designation, and wants to become an Aviation Medical Examiner. Physician B is an FAA-designated AME whose recurrent training is due and prefers a seminar combined with a professional meeting. Physician C is not designated, has no DMS account contact with the FAA, and wants to register for the Dayton CAMA seminar next month. For each physician, state the correct action and why the alternatives fail.
Show answer
Physician A: contact the FAA Regional Office responsible for their locality and ask about the Basic seminar in Oklahoma City, which prepares physicians for designation. Physician B: register through CAMA for the three-day CAMA seminar, using a DMS account; it fulfills the recurrent training requirement. Physician C: stop and request prior approval from the FAA's Aerospace Medical Education Division first; without that approval, registration is not available.
Every step comes from the FAA's seminar registration rules. The Regional Office is the entry point for people interested in becoming AMEs, and the Basic seminar is the designation-preparation course, so the CAMA refresher would not serve Physician A's goal. Physician B is exactly the audience the refresher category exists for, and the FAA confirms registration goes through CAMA with its own fee. Physician C's plan fails because the FAA requires prior approval from the Aerospace Medical Education Division for anyone not currently designated; skipping that step means the registration cannot proceed regardless of payment or travel plans.
Sources: AME Seminar Schedule | Federal Aviation Administration — Seminar types and registration
What the published pages do not specify
Neither CAMA's meeting page nor the FAA's schedule publishes a topic syllabus, test blueprint, or fee amounts. Confirm those details directly with CAMA.
It is worth being precise about gaps. The retrieved CAMA pages announce the meeting, hotel, and registration routes but do not list a topic-by-topic syllabus. The FAA describes refresher content only generally as AME-specific subjects. No question count or passing score for the FAA AME test appears in either source.
That does not mean the information is secret; it means it is not on these pages and can change. CAMA lists a contact number, 770-487-0100, for questions, and the association publishes seminar schedules and program updates on its website. Ask CAMA for the current program content and fee before you commit non-refundable travel.
Sources: Annual Meetings – Civil Aviation Medical Association — 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting section; AME Seminar Schedule | Federal Aviation Administration — Seminar types and registration
Your next steps
Your next action depends on your status: designated examiners plan refresher attendance, and future examiners start with their FAA Regional Office.
Each path below follows directly from the FAA's rules and CAMA's published dates. Confirm everything against the live pages, since dates and formats can shift.
- Already a designated AME: check when your recurrent training is due, and decide between the Dayton CAMA seminar (October 22-24, 2026) and another FAA-listed refresher.
- Attending Dayton: book the discounted hotel by September 28, 2026, and keep reservations refundable in case the format changes.
- Plan to pass the FAA AME test administered at the meeting if you want the recertification training credit.
- Pursuing designation: contact your FAA Regional Office first, then ask about the Basic seminar and Regional Flight Surgeon sponsorship.
- Not yet designated but interested in a seminar: request prior approval from the FAA's Aerospace Medical Education Division before attempting registration.
- Need program details or exact fees: contact CAMA at 770-487-0100 or through its website.
Sources: Annual Meetings – Civil Aviation Medical Association — 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting section; AME Seminar Schedule | Federal Aviation Administration — Seminar types and registration
Sources
Facts checked: