MAMERC 3.0 is online refresher training for active FAA-designated Aviation Medical Examiners, accessed through the Designee Management System. It can satisfy the FAA's 36-month refresher requirement if you attended an AME seminar within the last three years, but an in-person seminar is still required every 72 months. The course carries up to 5 CME credits, and CME is a separate matter from refresher training.
What MAMERC 3.0 is and who may take it
MAMERC 3.0 is the FAA's multimedia refresher course for active Aviation Medical Examiners. It is restricted to physicians the Federal Air Surgeon has designated and is reached through the Designee Management System.
The Multimedia Aviation Medical Examiner Refresher Course (MAMERC) 3.0 is an online refresher activity developed by the Aerospace Medical Education Division of the FAA's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute. An Aviation Medical Examiner, or AME, is a physician the FAA's Federal Air Surgeon has designated to perform airman medical examinations.
The FAA is explicit that the course is for active AMEs only, and you reach it through the Designee Management System (DMS), the FAA's portal for managing its designees. Training questions go to the AME Training Help Desk.
If you are not yet an AME, this course is not your entry point. Prospective examiners must apply through DMS, be approved by the appropriate FAA region, and complete the Medical Certification Standards and Procedures Training (MCSPT) and the Clinical Aerospace Physiology Review for AMEs (CAPAME) before attending a Basic AME Seminar.
Sources: Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) Training | Federal Aviation Administration — MAMERC page, accreditation statement and access notes, last updated September 1, 2026; AME Online Training | Federal Aviation Administration — Course selection guidance and refresher training rules
How the course fits the refresher training cycle
AME refresher training is required every 36 months. You may use MAMERC 3.0 to meet that requirement if you attended an AME seminar within the last three years, but an AME seminar remains mandatory every 72 months no matter when you last completed MAMERC.
The FAA's rules combine three conditions, and each one can decide whether MAMERC is an option for you. First, refresher training is due every 36 months. Second, MAMERC 3.0 can fulfill that requirement only if you have attended an AME seminar within the last three years. Third, attendance at an AME seminar is required every six years, or 72 months, regardless of when MAMERC was last completed. Completing MAMERC extends your seminar attendance by 36 months.
Two related limits are easy to miss. Completing CAPAME does not substitute for AME seminar training, so the physiology course cannot replace either the seminar or the refresher cycle. And CME credit is a separate matter: you may complete MAMERC or CAPAME at any time purely for CME, independent of what your refresher cycle requires.
The FAA also notes you can now complete the training on a smartphone or tablet, so the course does not require a specific workstation.
Practice example
Dr. Reyes, an active AME, last attended an AME refresher seminar in August 2024. It is now September 2026 and she would rather complete MAMERC 3.0 than travel to another seminar. Can she use MAMERC to satisfy this refresher cycle, and by what date must she next attend an AME seminar?
Show answer
Yes, she can use MAMERC 3.0 for this cycle, and her next AME seminar must occur by August 2030.
Assumptions: Dr. Reyes remains an active FAA-designated AME with DMS access, and the rules are applied at month precision as the FAA page states them. The three-year condition is met because her August 2024 seminar falls within three years of September 2026, so MAMERC 3.0 can fulfill the mandatory refresher training. Completing it extends her seminar attendance by 36 months. The 72-month rule applies regardless of MAMERC: 72 months after August 2024 is August 2030, so an in-person seminar is due by then even if she completes MAMERC multiple times in between.
CME credit and accreditation
MAMERC 3.0 carries a maximum of 5 CME credits, recognized by the AMA, the AAFP and the American Osteopathic Association under a term of approval running from July 14, 2026 to July 14, 2027.
The Civil Aerospace Medical Institute is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and designates the course for a maximum of 5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits. The American Academy of Family Physicians has reviewed MAMERC 3.0 and deemed it acceptable for up to 5.00 Enduring Materials, Self-Study AAFP Prescribed credits, with a term of approval from 07/14/2026 to 07/14/2027. The program is also approved for up to 5 hours of Category 1-B credit by the American Osteopathic Association.
Two conditions apply when claiming credit. You should claim only credit commensurate with the extent of your participation, and the FAA instructs users to read the current AAFP accreditation statement before proceeding, since that statement supersedes any accreditation wording inside the training application itself.
Remember the distinction from the training rules: earning CME is not the same event as satisfying your refresher requirement. You can take the course for credit at any time, but whether it counts as your 36-month refresher depends on your seminar history.
Sources: Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) Training | Federal Aviation Administration — MAMERC page, accreditation statement and access notes, last updated September 1, 2026; AME Online Training | Federal Aviation Administration — Course selection guidance and refresher training rules
When a seminar is the right alternative
If MAMERC is unavailable for your cycle, AME seminars are the alternative: a 2.5-day Refresher seminar, the 4.5-day Basic seminar, or specialty seminars held with the Aerospace Medical Association and the Civil Aviation Medical Association that also fulfill the recurrent requirement.
Refresher seminars run about two and a half days and cover AME-specific subjects; they fulfill the AME recurrent seminar training requirement. The Basic seminar is a four-and-a-half-day program that prepares physicians for designation and gives priority to applicants submitted by Regional Flight Surgeons. Seminars held jointly with the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA) and the Civil Aviation Medical Association (CAMA) are registered through those organizations and also satisfy the recurrent requirement.
The FAA publishes the seminar schedule in advance, including Oklahoma City Basic seminars and Refresher seminars in person and virtual international formats through 2027. Registration requires a DMS account, and physicians not yet designated must request prior approval from the Aerospace Medical Education Division. Because in-person seminars can be rescheduled as virtual sessions with little notice, the FAA recommends refundable travel and lodging reservations.
If you are unsure whether your cycle requires a seminar or whether MAMERC qualifies for you, the AME Training Help Desk can answer training questions, and the FAA Regional Office for your locality is the contact for becoming an AME in the first place.
Sources: AME Online Training | Federal Aviation Administration — Course selection guidance and refresher training rules; AME Seminar Schedule | Federal Aviation Administration — 2026-2027 seminar schedules and seminar type descriptions
How to prepare before you start the course
The FAA's public pages describe logistics, not a published module-by-module syllabus. Prepare by confirming your cycle status, planning self-study time around the topic areas AME refresher training covers, and relying on the course inside DMS and its user guide as the authoritative content.
Because MAMERC is self-study CME that you can complete on a phone or tablet, the practical preparation is scheduling, not logistics. Block uninterrupted sessions, since the credit rules ask you to claim only what your participation actually merits.
For content, treat the following as a preparation map rather than official objectives. The FAA pages reviewed here do not publish the course's internal module list, so the topics below reflect the subject areas this guide's AME curriculum covers. Confirm the authoritative structure in the MAMERC User Guide and the course itself once you are inside DMS.
Anchor each topic area to your own practice as you go. Regulatory responsibilities and certification criteria explain who may act and against what standards; examination procedures and aeromedical conditions carry the clinical substance; special issuance and human factors topics connect individual certification decisions to an airman's ongoing fitness. Reviewing each area against cases from your own examiner work is an optional routine that many physicians find more durable than rereading.
- Regulatory framework and AME responsibilities
- Medical standards and certification criteria
- Examination procedures and techniques
- Aeromedical conditions and disqualifying factors
- Special issuance and waiver processes
- Human factors and pilot health maintenance
Your next steps
Confirm your designation and seminar history, then access the course through DMS or book a seminar if your cycle requires one.
Work through this checklist before you begin. Each step maps to a rule covered above, so a quick pass tells you whether MAMERC is available for your current cycle.
- Confirm you are an active, FAA-designated AME with a working DMS account.
- Check the date of your most recent AME seminar: MAMERC counts toward the refresher requirement only if that seminar is within the last three years.
- Calculate your 72-month seminar deadline; if it is close, register for a seminar instead of relying on the online course.
- Read the current AAFP accreditation statement before claiming credit, and record only the credit your participation supports.
- Contact the AME Training Help Desk at (405) 954-4831 for sign-in or account problems.
Sources: Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) Training | Federal Aviation Administration — MAMERC page, accreditation statement and access notes, last updated September 1, 2026; AME Online Training | Federal Aviation Administration — Course selection guidance and refresher training rules; AME Seminar Schedule | Federal Aviation Administration — 2026-2027 seminar schedules and seminar type descriptions
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