What is MedXPress?
FAA MedXPress is the FAA's free web application for submitting FAA Form 8500-8 — the Application for Airman Medical Certificate — electronically, before your exam. Anyone who needs an FAA medical certificate (or a student pilot medical certificate) can use it; all you need is a valid email address to create an account.
You fill in your application online (Items 1–20), submit it, and the information is then available for your FAA-designated Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) to review at the time of your exam. One thing worth being clear on up front: MedXPress is only the application. A medical examination by an AME is still required to actually complete the certification process — the form doesn't replace the exam.
Source: FAA MedXPress and the FAA MedXPress brochure.
The short answerIs there an app that fills out FAA MedXPress?
Yes. Pilot Medical Guardian is the only app that autofills FAA MedXPress — its free Safari extension fills Item 17 (your medications) and Item 19 (your visits to health professionals) from records on your iPhone, so you're not retyping the same information every renewal cycle. You review every entry and submit it yourself.
It doesn't fill in Item 18 (your medical history) or hit Submit for you — those stay yours, on purpose. Everything runs on your own device: your medications and visit history live in your iPhone and your own iCloud, never on a server I can see, and nothing reaches medxpress.faa.gov until you tap Submit there yourself. More about the MedXPress autofill app, or see how the setup works.
Pilot Medical Guardian is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the FAA. The official system is at medxpress.faa.gov.
Step by stepMedXPress application: how it works
Create your MedXPress account
Register at medxpress.faa.gov with a valid email address. It's free.
Complete the application (Items 1–20)
Fill in your personal information, certificate details, medications, medical history, and visits to health professionals. You can save and come back to it.
Submit it and save your MedXPress confirmation number
When you submit, the FAA gives you a confirmation number. Your AME uses this number to pull up your application — and cannot access it without the confirmation number.
Bring your confirmation number and photo ID to the exam
The FAA instructs applicants to bring their MedXPress confirmation number and valid photo identification to the appointment. Your AME reviews your application with you, performs the exam, and handles the certification decision.
Source: the FAA's MedXPress User's Guide (PDF).
Don't get caught outThe two timing rules that trip pilots up
MedXPress has two deadlines, and missing either one means your application gets deleted and you start over:
30 days to submit. Per the FAA, if an application you've created is not submitted within 30 days, it is removed from the system.
60 days to your exam. After you submit, your medical examination must occur within 60 days, or the application is deleted.
What that means in practice: an application created too far ahead can be removed before you ever submit it, and one submitted before your exam is scheduled can be deleted before you get there.
Source: FAA — "How long will my application remain in the MedXPress system?" Confirm the current rules there before relying on them.
Before you startPreparing your Form 8500-8
MedXPress walks you through Items 1–20 of Form 8500-8 in order. Most of it is quick — identifying information, your certificate history, your flight-time totals. Having a few things ready before you sit down speeds it up:
- Your current medications — names and how you take them (Item 17).
- Visits in the last 3 years — dates and providers for any doctor, PA, NP, psychologist, or similar visit (Item 19).
- Your flight-time totals — total time to date and time in the last 6 months.
- Your last exam date — month and year of your most recent FAA medical exam.
Want it on paper? Get the free one-page MedXPress prep checklist — a printable PDF to check off everything before you sit down.
Here's what each item on the form is about, in plain language, using the FAA's own item labels:
| Item | What it asks |
|---|---|
| 1 | What you're applying for — an Airman Medical Certificate. (The FAA notes it no longer issues student pilot certificates, as of April 1, 2016.) |
| 2 | The class of medical certificate you're applying for — first, second, or third (see 14 CFR §61.23). |
| 3 | Your full legal name. |
| 4 | Social Security number — entering it is optional, or you can decline and the system generates a pseudo-number. |
| 5 | Your mailing address and telephone number. |
| 6 | Date of birth and citizenship. |
| 7 | Hair color. |
| 8 | Eye color. |
| 9 | Sex. |
| 10 | The airman certificate(s) you currently hold — Airline Transport, Commercial, Private, Recreational, and so on. |
| 11 | Your occupation. (The FAA says enter “pilot” only if you currently work as a pilot.) |
| 12 | Your employer (or “self-employed”). |
| 13 | Whether your FAA airman medical certificate has ever been denied, suspended, or revoked. |
| 14 | Total pilot flight time (civilian only) to date — logged or estimated. |
| 15 | Pilot flight time (civilian only) in the last 6 months. |
| 16 | The date of your last FAA medical application (or “no prior application”). |
| 17 | Medications you currently use (17a), and whether you use near-vision contact lenses while flying (17b). More below. |
| 18 | Your medical history: “Have you ever in your life been diagnosed with, had, or do you presently have any of the following?” More below. |
| 19 | Whether you've visited any health professionals in the last 3 years. More below. |
| 20 | Your certifying declarations, and authorization for a National Driver Register (motor-vehicle records) check. |
Item labels from the FAA MedXPress User Guide, Version 5.5 (June 2025). This is a plain-language overview, not the form itself — for the FAA's exact wording, see FAA Form 8500-8.
The parts you re-enter every cycleMedXPress medical questions (Items 17/18/19)
Most of Form 8500-8 is quick. Three sections are where pilots spend real time — and where they end up digging through last cycle's paperwork. Here's what each one asks, in the FAA's own words.
Medications you currently use
Item 17 asks whether you currently use any medication, prescription or nonprescription — and if so, to list them. It's about what you use now, not your whole history.
FAA Form 8500-8 (Item 17a).
Your lifetime medical history (the Yes/No grid)
Item 18 is the long list of Yes/No conditions. FAA Form 8500-8 phrases the question as:
"Have you ever in your life been diagnosed with, had, or do you presently have any of the following?"
For anything you mark Yes, the FAA asks for an explanation — a description and approximate date — in the Explanations box. What to report here is governed entirely by the FAA's instructions and your AME; I don't interpret it for you. Read the FAA's own guidance before you fill it in.
Question wording: FAA Form 8500-8. Explanations requirement: FAA AME Guide — Item 18 instructions.
Visits to health professionals in the last 3 years
Item 19 asks you to list your visits to health professionals within the past three years — doctors, and also professionals like a physician assistant, nurse practitioner, psychologist, psychiatrist, chiropractor, clinical social worker, or substance abuse specialist — for treatment, examination, or evaluation. For each, you note the date, the provider, and the reason.
FAA AME Guide — Item 19 and FAA Form 8500-8 (Item 19).
How Pilot Medical Guardian helps you prepare
This guide is free and stands on its own — the app is the other half. It keeps your medications, doctor visits, and records organized between exams, encrypted on your own device and iCloud where I can never see them, so you're not reconstructing everything from memory each cycle — and when it's time to renew, it autofills Items 17 and 19 for you (you review and submit yourself).
Quick answersMedXPress FAQ
How long is a MedXPress confirmation number valid?
Per the FAA, after you submit your application your medical examination must occur within 60 days or the application is deleted. Separately, an application you've created but not submitted is removed after 30 days. Always confirm the current rules on the FAA's MedXPress FAQ.
Do I have to use MedXPress?
Applying for an FAA medical certificate means completing FAA Form 8500-8, and MedXPress is the FAA's system for submitting that form electronically before your exam. Check the FAA's current guidance for how it applies to you.
Does MedXPress replace the medical exam?
No. MedXPress is only the application. A medical examination by an FAA-designated AME is still required to complete the certification process; your AME reviews your MedXPress information at the exam using your confirmation number.
What do I bring to my AME appointment?
Per the FAA, bring your MedXPress confirmation number and valid photo identification. Your AME cannot access your application without the confirmation number.
Is there a way to autofill MedXPress?
Yes. Pilot Medical Guardian's Safari extension autofills Item 17 (your medications) and Item 19 (your visits to health professionals) into MedXPress from records you keep on your own iPhone or iPad — so you don't retype the same information every cycle. You review every entry and tap Submit yourself, and Item 18 (the medical-history Yes/No grid) stays yours to complete by hand. Here's how to set it up.
Can the app fill in the whole form for me?
No — and it shouldn't. Pilot Medical Guardian prefills the repetitive parts (your medications and visits, Items 17 and 19) so you don't retype them, but you review every entry and submit it yourself. The medical-history Yes/No section (Item 18) is yours to complete by hand, following the FAA's own instructions.
This guide describes the FAA's own process and forms in plain language. It is an information resource — not medical, legal, or FAA compliance advice, and it is not affiliated with or endorsed by the FAA. What you must report on your application, and whether you meet the medical standards, is determined by the FAA and your Aviation Medical Examiner. Always rely on the official FAA sources linked above.