FAA HIMS AME training is a set of requirements inside the Aviation Medical Examiner program, not a standalone course. You first become an AME (apply through the FAA Designee Management System, complete MCSPT and CAPAME, attend a Basic AME Seminar), then complete Huddle training to be placed on the FAA HIMS AME List. HIMS AMEs then evaluate, sponsor and monitor airmen with substance- or alcohol-related conditions for medical certification, submit formal airline HIMS cases electronically through Huddle with a HIMS Data Sheet, and maintain recurrent training including four addiction-related CME per cycle.
What the HIMS AME role covers
HIMS stands for Human Intervention Motivation Study. The FAA describes HIMS AMEs as trained to evaluate airmen for substance- or alcohol-related conditions or other mental conditions, and to provide sponsorship and monitoring when the FAA requires it for medical certification.
The FAA's medical certification pages explain the practical entry point: airmen who have a regulatory diagnosis of alcohol dependence or abuse may require evaluation and monitoring before they can obtain a medical certificate, and an airman who needs monitoring should establish with a HIMS-trained AME to work through the FAA process.
Notice what the role is, in the FAA's own framing: certification-side work. You evaluate, sponsor, and monitor so the FAA can make its determination. The retrieved pages describe that scope; they do not publish the clinical curriculum of the training itself, so treat diagnosis and treatment-protocol study as something to verify against the Huddle course materials and the current AME Guide rather than against summaries.
A related scope note for your planning: no version or edition date for the HIMS training curriculum appears in the FAA pages reviewed here. When you request Huddle training, confirm the current course version directly with the FAA.
Sources: Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners — Substances of Dependence/Abuse (Drugs and Alcohol) — FAA AME Guide substance pages, updated October 25, 2023; Medical Certification | Federal Aviation Administration — FAA medical certification pages, updated March 23, 2026
Becoming an AME comes first
HIMS training is a step within the AME designation pathway, not an independent entry point. The FAA is explicit that you must apply through the FAA Designee Management System (DMS) and be approved by the appropriate FAA region before completing any training courses.
The AME Online Training page states this as a hard gate: do not complete courses if you have not submitted a DMS application and received regional approval. Two online courses are then required before you can attend a Basic AME Seminar: the Medical Certification Standards and Procedures Training (MCSPT) and the Clinical Aerospace Physiology Review for AMEs (CAPAME).
Plan your timeline around that sequence — application, approval, online prerequisites, seminar — rather than starting with coursework you may have to repeat. If you hit account or sign-in problems, the FAA lists an AME Training Help Desk with a phone contact on the training page.
Practice
A physician colleague is eager to start and asks whether she can complete the online AME courses now and submit her Designee Management System application later. What is the correct order of steps on her way to a Basic AME Seminar?
Show answer
No. She must first apply through the FAA Designee Management System and be approved by the appropriate FAA region. Only then should she complete the Medical Certification Standards and Procedures Training (MCSPT) and the Clinical Aerospace Physiology Review for AMEs (CAPAME), which are required before attending a Basic AME Seminar.
The FAA's AME Online Training page instructs prospective AMEs not to complete courses before a DMS application has been submitted and regional approval granted, and it names MCSPT and CAPAME as requirements to complete prior to a Basic AME Seminar. Taking courses first wastes effort and does not substitute for the approval gate.
- Submit your DMS application and wait for regional FAA approval before taking any courses
- Complete MCSPT and CAPAME before attending a Basic AME Seminar
- Contact the AME Training Help Desk for sign-in or account issues
Huddle training and the FAA HIMS AME List
Placement on the FAA HIMS AME List requires successfully completing Huddle training. Training requests go to a dedicated FAA email address — never case files.
The AME Guide's substance pages set the rule plainly: all HIMS AMEs must successfully complete Huddle training to be placed on the FAA HIMS AME List, and training requests are sent to 9-AAM-HIMS@faa.gov. That address is for training requests only; the same page warns not to send case files there.
The submission rules matter just as much once you are on the roster. Formal HIMS cases — defined narrowly as pilots who fly for an airline with a HIMS Chairman — must be submitted electronically through Huddle with an accompanying HIMS Data Sheet. Paper submissions have not been accepted since January 1, 2023, and airline HIMS Chairs are advised which HIMS AMEs are not in compliance. All other drug and alcohol cases go to the Aerospace Medical Certification Division at the address given on the HIMS-Trained AME Checklist.
Practice
You are a HIMS AME handling a formal HIMS case for a first officer at an airline that has a HIMS Chairman. Your office still keeps paper copies of everything. How must this case be submitted, and what must accompany it?
Show answer
Electronically, through Huddle, sent to Washington, DC, with an accompanying HIMS Data Sheet. A paper submission is not an option: the FAA stopped accepting paper format submissions for formal HIMS cases after January 1, 2023.
The AME Guide's substance pages define formal HIMS cases as applying only to pilots who fly for an airline with a HIMS Chairman and require electronic submission via Huddle with a HIMS Data Sheet. The page also states that paper submissions will not be accepted after January 1, 2023 and that non-compliant HIMS AMEs are reported to airline HIMS Chairs, so the routing rule is a compliance matter, not a preference.
Keeping your training current
General AME refresher training runs on a 36-month cycle, with seminar attendance required every six years. HIMS AMEs carry an additional recurrent requirement of four addiction-related CME, and the FAA's Advanced HIMS AME Recurrent Training Course fulfills one of those four.
The refresher rules have specific boundaries. The Multimedia Aviation Medical Examiner Refresher Course (MAMERC) 3.0 can substitute for a seminar and extend your seminar attendance by 36 months, but attendance at an AME seminar is still required every six years regardless of when MAMERC was last completed. Completing CAPAME does not count as a substitute for seminar training.
Keep continuing medical education separate in your head from refresher training: the FAA treats them as distinct matters, and you may take MAMERC 3.0 or CAPAME at any time for CME credit. For the HIMS-specific requirement, the Advanced HIMS AME Recurrent Training Course satisfies one addiction-related CME of the four required toward HIMS recurrent training — so you need additional addiction-related CME from other sources to complete the cycle.
One practical convenience the FAA notes: you can now complete the online training on a smartphone or tablet, which makes it easier to fit course work between clinic sessions.
| FAA course | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Medical Certification Standards and Procedures Training (MCSPT) | Requirement to become an AME, or for staff training |
| Clinical Aerospace Physiology Review for AMEs (CAPAME) | Requirement to become an AME, or for CME; not a substitute for seminar training |
| Multimedia AME Refresher Course (MAMERC) 3.0 | In lieu of an AME seminar under stated restrictions; extends seminar attendance by 36 months |
| Advanced HIMS AME Recurrent Training Course | Fulfills 1 of the 4 required addiction-related CME for HIMS AME recurrent training |
The substance-case workflow you will manage
The AME Guide organizes drug and alcohol monitoring work into three stages — initial certification, recertification, and step down transition — each with its own checklist, data sheet and FAA certification aid.
For initial certification, the Guide provides a HIMS-Trained AME Checklist, a data sheet and a certification aid covering evaluation and monitoring for airmen seeking a certificate with a drug- or alcohol-related history. Once an airman holds a valid Special Issuance Authorization for a drug or alcohol condition, you move to the recertification guidance instead.
Recertification has its own structure. In response to NTSB Safety Recommendation A-07-43, the FAA extended follow-up for airmen with a diagnosis of substance dependence through a HIMS Step Down Plan, and the Guide publishes the testing-frequency and milestone guidance HIMS AMEs use when recommending that plan. Separately, if a pilot on a Special Issuance for substance dependence is a candidate to move between phases, the Guide's step down transition materials explain which phases apply and when a move is allowed.
The study discipline here is to match each case to its stage before reaching for any disposition detail: initial files use the initial-certification set, Special Issuance holders use the recertification set, and phase changes go through the transition guidance. The pages also carry their own posted update date, so confirm you are reading the current revision each time you rely on a disposition table or checklist.
Practice
A pilot you have been monitoring already holds a valid Special Issuance Authorization for a substance dependence condition and returns for his next certification cycle. Which section of the AME Guide's substance pages governs your work now, and what planning tool applies if he is on a Step Down Plan?
Show answer
The recertification guidance applies, because the Guide directs HIMS AMEs to use that section once the airman has a valid Special Issuance Authorization for a drug or alcohol condition. For testing frequency and general milestones, you would use the HIMS Step Down Plan guidance, which the FAA extended for airmen with a diagnosis of substance dependence in response to NTSB Safety Recommendation A-07-43.
The AME Guide splits its drug and alcohol monitoring material by stage. The recertification section is explicitly for airmen who already hold a valid Special Issuance Authorization, and the Step Down Plan materials give HIMS AMEs the recommended testing-frequency and milestone framework. Using the initial-certification checklist for a Special Issuance holder would route the file through the wrong document set.
Preparation priorities and process mistakes to avoid
Your highest-yield preparation is procedural: know the approval gates, the submission channels and the training cycles, because the retrieved FAA rules define compliance in exactly those terms.
Each of the following mistakes maps to a rule stated in the FAA's own pages, not to a stylistic preference. Building your study plan around them keeps your attention on what the FAA actually checks.
Beyond process, your content study should work from the primary documents: the Guide's Substances of Dependence/Abuse section with its disposition tables, checklists and certification aids, and the medical certification pages that explain the HIMS AME's certification role. The clinical depth of the Huddle curriculum is not documented in these pages, so plan that portion of your study against the course materials themselves once you are approved to take them.
- Do not complete any AME training course before your DMS application is approved by the FAA region
- Never send case files to the Huddle training-request email; it is for training requests only
- Submit formal airline HIMS cases electronically via Huddle with a HIMS Data Sheet — paper has been rejected since January 1, 2023
- Track both cycles: refresher training every 36 months, a seminar every 72 months, and 4 addiction-related CME for HIMS recurrent training
- Match each case file to the correct Guide stage — initial, recertification, or step down transition — before using any disposition detail
- Check the posted update date on the Guide's substance pages whenever you rely on a table or checklist
Sources: Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners — Substances of Dependence/Abuse (Drugs and Alcohol) — FAA AME Guide substance pages, updated October 25, 2023; Medical Certification | Federal Aviation Administration — FAA medical certification pages, updated March 23, 2026; AME Online Training | Federal Aviation Administration — FAA AME Online Training page, updated October 4, 2022
Final checklist and official documents
Before you count yourself ready for HIMS AME work, confirm each item below against the FAA's own pages rather than against this guide or any summary.
Three FAA documents anchor everything in this guide. The Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners substance pages carry the HIMS case rules, checklists and Step Down materials. The medical certification pages explain the HIMS AME role and host the locate-a-HIMS-AME listing. The AME Online Training page governs the prerequisite courses, refresher cycles and the Advanced HIMS course.
Keep this checklist with your study notes and revisit it at each renewal cycle:
- DMS application submitted and regional FAA approval received
- MCSPT and CAPAME completed; Basic AME Seminar attended
- Huddle training completed and FAA HIMS AME List placement confirmed
- Formal HIMS cases routed through Huddle with a HIMS Data Sheet; all other drug and alcohol cases sent to AMCD per the checklist
- Refresher and seminar cycle dates recorded; 4 addiction-related CME planned for each HIMS recurrent cycle
- Current revision date of the Guide's substance pages noted before relying on any disposition detail
Sources: Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners — Substances of Dependence/Abuse (Drugs and Alcohol) — FAA AME Guide substance pages, updated October 25, 2023; Medical Certification | Federal Aviation Administration — FAA medical certification pages, updated March 23, 2026; AME Online Training | Federal Aviation Administration — FAA AME Online Training page, updated October 4, 2022
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