The FAA documents the AME designee program — application, training, seminars, and oversight — in Order 8000.95D and its AME training pages. The senior tier's specific requirements are not covered by the confirmed material, so verify them directly. Work from the confirmed path below, and calendar the two training clocks: 36 months to refresher, 72 months to a seminar.
What the FAA sources confirm, and what they do not
The AME designee program, its training rules, and its oversight system are documented in current FAA policy. The specific authority and experience requirements for the Senior AME tier were not confirmed in the official material covering the base program, so treat senior-specific claims as unverified until you check them yourself.
The FAA appoints qualified private physicians as designees to perform airman medical certification on its behalf. That delegation rests on 49 U.S.C. § 44702 and 14 CFR Part 183, with day-to-day policy consolidated in FAA Order 8000.95D, effective January 22, 2025. Volume 2 of that order holds the AME designee policy.
Two framing facts shape everything else. A designation is a privilege, not a right, and the Administrator can end it at any time for any reason. And a designee is not a U.S. government employee, nor federally protected for work performed or decisions made as a designee.
The senior tier of the AME system is not spelled out in the pages that confirm the base program here. Its authority, experience requirements, and any senior-specific evaluation should be confirmed against Order 8000.95D Volume 2 and with the Regional Flight Surgeon for your area before you rely on any summary — including this one.
The confirmed route to AME designation
You apply through the FAA Designee Management System, obtain regional approval before starting any training, complete two online courses, and then attend a Basic AME Seminar.
Start with the Designee Management System (DMS), the web-based tool the FAA uses to manage designees. The FAA's training page is explicit on sequencing: do not complete the online courses until you have submitted a DMS application and been approved by the appropriate FAA region. If you are interested in becoming an AME, contact the FAA Regional Office responsible for your locality.
Once approved, two courses are required before you attend a Basic AME Seminar: Medical Certification Standards and Procedures Training (MCSPT) and Clinical Aerospace Physiology Review for AMEs (CAPAME). Both are available through the FAA's AME Online Training page.
The Basic seminar itself runs four and a half days and prepares physicians for designation, with priority given to applicants submitted by Regional Flight Surgeons. Support continues after designation: each region runs a mentoring program giving new AMEs certification review and direct mentorship for up to two years, and new AME offices are evaluated by regional staff within one year.
Sources: FAA Order 8000.95D, Designee Management Policy — Volume 1 (common designee policy) and Volume 2 (AME designee policy); AME Seminar Schedule | Federal Aviation Administration — 2026–2027 schedules and seminar type descriptions; AME Online Training | Federal Aviation Administration — Course requirements and refresher training notes
Seminar and refresher rules that keep the designation active
Refresher training is required every 36 months, and attendance at an AME seminar is required every 72 months regardless of when you last completed the online refresher course.
The Multimedia Aviation Medical Examiner Refresher Course (MAMERC) 3.0 can substitute for a seminar in a given cycle, but only if you attended an AME seminar within the last three years, and the page notes further restrictions you should read before relying on it. Completing MAMERC extends the interval between seminars by 36 months, yet the ceiling holds: seminar attendance is required every six years (72 months) no matter when MAMERC was last completed. CAPAME does not count as a substitute for seminar training, and Continuing Medical Education credit is a separate matter from refresher training altogether.
When a seminar is due, you have several formats to choose from. Registration requires a DMS account, and physicians who are not yet designated AMEs must request and receive prior approval from the FAA's Aerospace Medical Education Division. The FAA advises making travel and lodging refundable, since an in-person seminar can be rescheduled as virtual with little notice.
| Seminar type | Length | Registration route |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 4½ days | FAA; DMS account required, prior approval if not designated |
| Refresher | 2½ days | FAA; DMS account required |
| AsMA Refresher | 3½ days | Through the Aerospace Medical Association; AsMA charges a fee |
| CAMA Refresher | 3 days | Through the Civil Aviation Medical Association; CAMA charges a fee |
Sources: AME Seminar Schedule | Federal Aviation Administration — 2026–2027 schedules and seminar type descriptions; AME Online Training | Federal Aviation Administration — Course requirements and refresher training notes
Worked example: mapping your seminar deadline
A seminar attended in March 2022 anchors the six-year clock. Completing MAMERC 3.0 in March 2025 satisfies that refresher cycle but cannot move the next seminar past March 2028.
The example below assumes the rules exactly as posted on the FAA AME Online Training page hold unchanged: refresher training every 36 months, MAMERC 3.0 usable only if you attended a seminar within the prior three years, and seminar attendance required every 72 months regardless of when MAMERC was last completed. Confirm the page's current notes before applying this timing to yourself, since it flags restrictions on using MAMERC in place of a seminar.
Worked example
Dr. Osei attended a Basic AME Seminar in March 2022 and remains an active designee. She completes MAMERC 3.0 in March 2025, within three years of that seminar. What is the latest date by which she must attend another AME seminar, and could completing MAMERC again in March 2027 push that date later?
Show answer
March 2028. A further MAMERC completion in 2027 cannot move the deadline, because seminar attendance is required every 72 months from the seminar regardless of when MAMERC was last completed.
From the March 2022 seminar, refresher training comes due every 36 months, so March 2025 is her first refresher point, and MAMERC 3.0 satisfies that cycle while extending the seminar interval by 36 months — up to the six-year cap. March 2022 plus 72 months is March 2028. The tempting answer, March 2030 (another 36 months after a 2027 course), fails because the 72-month requirement is anchored to the seminar date, not to the online course date. The second MAMERC would cover the 2025–2028 refresher cycle, nothing more.
How the FAA oversees, extends, and ends a designation
Regions monitor AME performance through mentoring, site visits, and sample reviews of issued certificates, and designations end either by voluntary surrender or FAA-initiated termination, for cause or not for cause.
Oversight is continuous. Regional flight surgeons monitor the AME system in their areas, run a quality management program for reviewing performance, and aim to survey every AME office at least once every five years; virtual site visits are acceptable, and visits can be unannounced when a deficiency warrants. On the application side, the FAA's Document and Imaging Workflow System (DIWS) flags exam records that meet certain review parameters — such as listed medical conditions or prescribed medications — and routes them to a regional physician for surveillance review.
Designations are renewed through an annual extension request in DMS, during which you acknowledge the designation is a privilege. Exit comes in two forms. You can voluntarily surrender the designation, which does not preclude reapplying later, although surrender is blocked once a termination-for-cause review is underway. The FAA can also terminate: for cause, for reasons such as performance deficiencies, integrity lapses, or misconduct, or not for cause, for example when the FAA no longer needs the designee. A not-for-cause termination leaves you free to reapply.
Performance is judged across technical, procedural, and professional dimensions — correct equipment and reference use, accurate documentation and submittal, and ethical, courteous, cooperative conduct with both the public and the FAA. Maintaining high ethical standards and good judgment is an explicit oversight criterion, not just an aspiration.
What to verify for the senior tier before you claim it
Senior-tier authority, experience requirements, and any senior-specific assessment are not covered by the confirmed material here. Check Order 8000.95D Volume 2, the Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners, and your Regional Flight Surgeon.
Order 8000.95D Volume 2 is the home of AME designee policy, so it is the first document to read for senior-tier specifics. The Regional Flight Surgeon for your region can confirm how the policy applies to you and whether any additional criteria or evaluation exist beyond what the order prints.
For the substance of AME work, the Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners is the working reference. Its application-process section itself lists the practice areas you will operate in — including authorization for special issuance and AME Assisted Special Issuance (AASI), disposition of applications, and medical certification decision making. Treat those as preparation priorities and study them from the current Guide directly; this guide does not restate their rules, because the checked material confirms the topics, not the procedures.
Be equally honest about logistics. Seminar fees, senior-specific criteria, and the format of any senior evaluation were not confirmed in the material behind this guide. A short written inquiry to your regional office resolves all three before you invest preparation time.
Sources: FAA Order 8000.95D, Designee Management Policy — Volume 1 (common designee policy) and Volume 2 (AME designee policy); Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners — Application Process, General Information — Section listing of AME responsibilities and certification topics
Your next steps
Confirm the senior-tier requirements in writing, work from current official documents, and calendar both training clocks.
Everything above reduces to a short checklist. Work through it in order, and keep the official pages, not summaries, as your reference of record.
- Request the senior-tier authority and experience requirements in writing from the FAA Regional Office or Regional Flight Surgeon for your area
- Read the AME designee policy in FAA Order 8000.95D Volume 2, checking the document's own effective date and any updates
- If pursuing initial designation, submit your DMS application and wait for regional approval before starting any online course
- Complete MCSPT and CAPAME before your Basic AME Seminar
- Calendar both clocks from each seminar: refresher training at 36 months and a required seminar by 72 months
- Register with a DMS account, secure prior approval if not yet designated, and keep travel bookings refundable
Sources: FAA Order 8000.95D, Designee Management Policy — Volume 1 (common designee policy) and Volume 2 (AME designee policy); AME Seminar Schedule | Federal Aviation Administration — 2026–2027 schedules and seminar type descriptions; AME Online Training | Federal Aviation Administration — Course requirements and refresher training notes
Sources
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