The advanced AME course is 66 hours of theoretical and practical training across 12 published subject areas, with the practical element supervised in an aero-medical centre and confirmed by a competency report. Prepare by working the subject list against the Part-MED medical requirements, especially the class 1 rules that the course blocks keep referencing, and confirm eligibility and assessment details with your competent authority.
What the advanced AME training course covers
The advanced training course for AMEs consists of 66 hours of theoretical and practical training, including specific examination techniques, spread across 12 published subject areas and completed with supervised practical training in an aero-medical centre.
Under the EASA framework, AMC2 MED.D.020 to Part-MED specifies that the advanced training course for AMEs should consist of 66 hours of theoretical and practical training, including specific examination techniques. Part-MED is Annex IV to the EU aircrew rules, Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011, and the course specifications are published by EASA as acceptable means of compliance and guidance material.
The guidance lists the learning objectives as theoretical knowledge, risk management and decision-making principles in twelve subjects, with demonstrations and practical skills included where appropriate:
The final part of the course is practical: it takes place in an aero-medical centre (AeMC) under the guidance and supervision of the head of the AeMC. After successful completion of the practical training, a report of demonstrated competency is issued. That structure matters for your planning: part of the qualification is demonstrated in a supervised clinical environment, not learned from books.
One version note: the current publication is AMC & GM to Part-MED, Issue 2, Amendment 1, arising from ED Decision 2025/002/R. The training-course text summarised here comes from EASA's published Part-MED AMC/GM material, so always read the current consolidated edition before you rely on a detail.
- Pilot working environment
- Aerospace physiology
- Clinical medicine
- Cardiovascular system
- Neurology
- Psychiatry/psychology
- Visual system and colour vision
- Otorhinolaryngology
- Dentistry
- Human factors in aviation
- Incidents and accidents, escape and survival
- Tropical medicine
Official sources used: AMC & GM to Part-MED, Issue 2, Amendment 1 (ED Decision 2025/002/R), EASA document library — Publication page and related ED Decision; EASA advanced AME training course and extension-of-privileges syllabus (AMC and GM to Part-MED) — AMC1/AMC2/GM1/GM2 MED.D.020 Training courses in aviation medicine; GM1 MED.A.020 medication guidance; AMC6 MED.B.095
How the course fits the AME certificate
The advanced course sits in Subpart D of Part-MED, alongside a separately specified 60-hour basic course and the extension-of-privileges syllabus, all attached to the AME certificate issued by your competent authority.
Part-MED Subpart D defines the aero-medical roles: the aero-medical examiner (AME), the aero-medical centre (AeMC), the general medical practitioner (GMP) and the occupational health medical practitioner (OHMP). The provisions cover AME privileges, application, requirements for issue, extension of privileges, training courses, changes to the certificate and validity.
Two course specifications sit under MED.D.020. The basic training course for AMEs should consist of 60 hours of theoretical and practical training, with learning objectives spanning 23 topics from aviation physiology through legislation to the in-flight environment; its concluding items include a final examination. The advanced course described in this guide is the second, deeper specification.
Separately, the guidance includes an extension-of-privileges syllabus covering at least the pilot working environment, aerospace physiology, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, cardiology and general medicine, neurology/psychiatry, human factors, tropical medicine, hygiene and space medicine, each including demonstration and practical elements. The same rule applies here as for the advanced course: the practical component is carried out in an AeMC under the head of the AeMC's supervision and leads to a competency report.
The precise prerequisites for holding an AME certificate and for extending its privileges are set in MED.D.005, MED.D.010 and MED.D.015. The retrieved material identifies these provisions but does not reproduce their conditions, so read them directly in the Easy Access Rules for Aircrew and confirm your entry route with your national competent authority.
Official sources used: Easy Access Rules for Aircrew (Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011), revision from August 2023, EASA — Annex IV (Part-MED), Subparts A-D; Annex VI (Part-ARA), Subpart MED; EASA advanced AME training course and extension-of-privileges syllabus (AMC and GM to Part-MED) — AMC1/AMC2/GM1/GM2 MED.D.020 Training courses in aviation medicine; GM1 MED.A.020 medication guidance; AMC6 MED.B.095
Medical certificates you will assess: classes and validity
The course subjects repeatedly reference class 1 requirements, so you need the certificate-class framework cold: who can issue each class, and how long each certificate lasts.
Part-MED links licence privileges to certificate classes: commercial pilot, multi-crew pilot and airline transport pilot licences require a valid class 1 medical certificate, a private pilot licence at least a class 2, and light aircraft, balloon and sailplane licences at least a LAPL medical certificate. A holder may not hold more than one Part-MED medical certificate at any time, and a class 1 certificate includes the privileges and validities of class 2 and LAPL certificates.
Issuance is also role-dependent. Initial class 1 certificates are issued by an AeMC. Class 2 and LAPL certificates are issued by an AeMC or an AME, and LAPL certificates may additionally be issued by a GMP where national law permits. Class 1 and class 2 revalidation and renewal likewise go through an AeMC or an AME.
Validity depends on class and age, and revalidation examinations may be undertaken up to 45 days before expiry. The core periods are summarised below; note the extra conditions attached to several of them, such as the earlier expiry dates that apply when a certificate was issued before a birthday threshold.
| Certificate class | Standard validity | Shortened validity |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | 12 months | 6 months for single-pilot commercial air transport carrying passengers from age 40, and from age 60 |
| Class 2 | 60 months until age 40 (ceases to be valid after age 42); 24 months between 40 and 50 (ceases after 51) | 12 months above age 50 |
| LAPL | 60 months until age 40 (ceases to be valid after age 42) | 24 months above age 40 |
Official sources used: Easy Access Rules for Aircrew (Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011), revision from August 2023, EASA — Annex IV (Part-MED), Subparts A-D; Annex VI (Part-ARA), Subpart MED
Subject hours in the advanced course
The published guidance gives clear hour blocks for the first nine subjects, and the retrieved text supports those allocations; the hour entries for the remaining subjects could not be verified, so this guide omits them rather than guessing.
The hour breakdown below comes from the guidance material to the advanced course. Most subject blocks explicitly include class 1 requirements and clinical cases, which tells you how the course is taught: system knowledge is anchored to the certification standards and to worked patients, not delivered as general clinical refreshers.
The table lists the nine subject blocks whose hour values are clearly stated in the published text. The hour entry for human factors in aviation is not presented in a form this guide can restate reliably, and no verifiable hour values for incidents and accidents, escape and survival, or tropical medicine were available here, so read the full guidance document for the complete 66-hour breakdown.
| Subject | Hours | Notes from the guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot working environment | 6 | Flight deck environment, professional operations, radiation exposure, air traffic control |
| Aerospace physiology | 4 | Review of hypoxia, decompression, hyperventilation, acceleration, spatial disorientation; simulator sickness |
| Clinical medicine | 5 | Complete physical examination, class 1 requirements, clinical cases |
| Cardiovascular system | 4 | Examination and diagnostic steps, class 1 requirements, clinical cases |
| Neurology | 3 | Neurological and psychiatric examination, psychoactive substance use, class 1 requirements |
| Psychiatry/psychology | 5 | Evaluation techniques, substance use, class 1 requirements, clinical cases |
| Visual system and colour vision | 5 | Acuity, refraction, fields, refractive surgery implications, class 1 requirements |
| Otorhinolaryngology | 4 | Barotrauma, hearing tests, noise, class 1 hearing requirements |
| Dentistry | 2 | Oral examination, dental disorders, barodontalgia, clinical cases |
Preparing for a course built on cases and practicals
Structure your preparation around the published subject blocks, and for each system pair the examination technique with the class 1 requirements that the course explicitly flags.
The course guidance signals its own emphasis. Repeated blocks list examination techniques, class 1 requirements and clinical cases together, so a useful study pattern is to take one system at a time and prepare three things: how the examination is performed, what the applicable Part-MED requirement for the certificate class says, and how the two connect in a case.
The guidance also contains content you can rehearse directly. The medication guidance material poses three basic questions for any pilot considering medication: do I feel fit to fly, do I really need the medication, and have I trialled it on the ground to check for adverse effects. The same material gives compatibility statements for widely used medicines, which makes it ideal self-test material. The first exercise below uses exactly that content.
This guide cannot substitute for the supervised element. The practical training takes place in an AeMC under the head of the AeMC's supervision, and paper preparation establishes familiarity with the rules, not demonstrated competency.
Practice exercise: medication questions from a pilot
Three remedies, three different compatibility outcomes under the published medication guidance: one compatible, one needing aero-medical advice and a non-sedative alternative, one not compatible with flying duties.
Worked practice exercise
A private pilot holding a class 2 medical certificate asks you about three remedies before upcoming flying duties: a nasal corticosteroid spray for hay fever, a combination cold tablet containing a sedating antihistamine, and a codeine-based cough syrup. For each item, state whether the Part-MED medication guidance treats it as compatible with flying duties and what you would advise.
Show the answer
Nasal corticosteroid spray: compatible. The guidance describes nasal corticosteroids as commonly used to treat hay fever and compatible with flying duties. Sedating antihistamine: not a simple yes. Antihistamines can cause drowsiness and are widely used in cold cures; if treatment is necessary, the pilot should seek aero-medical advice so that a non-sedative antihistamine, which does not degrade performance, can be prescribed, and the underlying condition itself may preclude flying. Codeine-based cough syrup: not compatible. The guidance states that antitussives often containing codeine, dextromethorphan or pseudoephedrine are not compatible with flying duties, while mucolytic agents such as carbocisteine are well tolerated and compatible.
Each answer restates the published compatibility statements rather than a personal clinical judgement. The exercise also rehearses the framework the guidance sets out: check fitness to fly, whether the medication is truly needed, and whether it has been trialled on the ground; and confirm the absence of adverse effects, which may require expert aero-medical advice. Notice that for the antihistamine the condition, not only the drug, drives the advice, which is exactly the dual check the guidance builds in.
Practice exercise: checking an HbA1c value
Using the published conversion table, 64 mmol/mol equals 8.0 percent, which sits inside the 7.5 to 8.5 percent target set for the LAPL insulin-treated type 2 diabetes pathway.
Worked practice exercise
Assumptions: the applicant holds a LAPL medical certificate, has type 2 diabetes treated with insulin, and is assessed under the Part-MED pathway for that situation; the laboratory reports HbA1c of 64 mmol/mol, and you use the conversion table published in the AMC/GM to Part-MED. Convert 64 mmol/mol to percent and state whether the value falls within the HbA1c target for this pathway.
Show the answer
The published table pairs 8.0 percent with 64 mmol/mol, so the reported value equals 8.0 percent. The target for this pathway is 7.5 to 8.5 percent, so 8.0 percent is within target.
The conversion is a direct table lookup: the guidance includes a table for converting HbA1c between percent and mmol/mol, and one of its rows lists 8.0 percent against 64 mmol/mol. The target range is stated in the same pathway, and the accompanying guidance explains why it is deliberately set above non-diabetic levels: a tighter target significantly increases the chance of hypoglycaemia, which matters for flight safety. Remember that a single value is not the whole assessment; the pathway also requires six-monthly blood testing covering renal, liver and lipid profiles alongside the HbA1c.
What to confirm before you apply
Eligibility conditions, assessment format, fees and providers were not in the retrieved material; check them against the Easy Access Rules for Aircrew and your national competent authority.
Three gaps deserve your attention before you commit time or money. First, the entry requirements: MED.D.005, MED.D.010 and MED.D.015 govern application, issue and extension of AME privileges, and their detailed conditions were not reproduced in the retrieved passages. Second, the assessment format of the advanced course itself: the guidance specifies supervised practical training and a competency report, but the retrieved text did not describe a separate final examination for the advanced course, so ask your training organisation. Third, administration: fees, scheduling and approved providers sit with your competent authority and the training organisations, not with EASA's published rules.
Your practical next steps: download the current AMC & GM to Part-MED, Issue 2, Amendment 1 and read AMC1, AMC2 and the GM material to MED.D.020 in full; read Part-MED Subpart D and the medical requirements in Subpart B in the Easy Access Rules for Aircrew; and contact your national competent authority to confirm your eligibility route and find approved training. The free practice page and study guides listed below can support your revision once your route is confirmed.
- Read the current consolidated AMC & GM to Part-MED, Issue 2, Amendment 1
- Read Annex IV (Part-MED), especially Subparts B and D, in the Easy Access Rules for Aircrew
- Confirm eligibility, fees and course providers with your national competent authority
Official sources used: AMC & GM to Part-MED, Issue 2, Amendment 1 (ED Decision 2025/002/R), EASA document library — Publication page and related ED Decision; Easy Access Rules for Aircrew (Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011), revision from August 2023, EASA — Annex IV (Part-MED), Subparts A-D; Annex VI (Part-ARA), Subpart MED
Official sources used
Course facts verified against EASA AMC/GM publications: