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A Brief History of Flight Medicine

The relatively recent development of aviation over the last 100 years requires that the branch of medicine supporting this activity be similarly young. Yet the history of flight medicine remains full of amazing anecdotes and intriguing characters. As flight transitioned from an experimental hobby by a small group of unusual personalities to a huge regulated industry demanded by travelers and military powers, the field of aviation medicine evolved in parallel.

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 Want to work for Elon Musk?

Maybe you’re not quite a doctor yet. Maybe you’re a current or aspiring medical student. If this is you and you have a thirst for the exciting world of flight or space medicine, then Elon thought of you as well. Let Space X groom you to be their future Martian medical director.

 What it’s like in aerospace medicine: Shadowing Dr. Ortega

The most challenging and rewarding aspects of aerospace medicine: The biggest challenge is performing quality medicine and risk assessment in a nonthreatening way to a high-performing population of driven individuals. This typically requires doing so in nontraditional medical settings (i.e., not in the clinic). Occasionally, a good person develops a bad condition that is going to end their career as a pilot or astronaut.

Articles of Interest

Aerospace Medicine

Aerospace medicine focuses on the clinical care, research, and operational support of the health, safety, and performance of crew members and passengers of air and space vehicles, together with the support personnel who assist operation of such vehicles. This population often works and lives in remote, isolated, extreme, or enclosed environments under conditions of physical and psychological stress.

Aerospace Medicine Milestones

100 year history of Aerospace Medicine developed and narrated by USN CAPT Walter Dalitsch, MD, MPH​ in conjunction with the Aerospace Medical Association History and Archives Committee.

Should there be zero tolerance for depression in the cockpit?

By the very nature of their work, much like medical doctors, aircraft pilots are directly responsible for the safety of other human lives. It is often assumed without question that these professionals are mentally and physically capable of performing their required duties.

The Next Frontier: Aerospace Medicine

Aerospace medicine combines two challenging and important disciplines. This field of study has existed for a century, but it is especially exciting now that commercial space travel and deep space missions are both in the works.

What Is Aerospace Medicine? Dr. Gray Is Interviewed

Aerospace medicine is a subspecialty of preventive medicine, and it is quite unique to the military, though there are civilians equivalents. Since I, Dr. Gray, am a flight surgeon, today’s episode will be an interview with me.

Resources

Go Flight Med

Go Flight Medicine (GFM) is a Free Online Medical Education (FOAMed) project and small business that provides aerospace medicine services such as flight physicals and consulting services to pilots and aircrew. The blog focuses on all aspects of aviation medicine as well as other medical disciplines where normal healthy humans find themselves in abnormal or extreme environments. The mission of Go Flight Medicine LLC is to provide reliable medical information to both aerospace medical professionals and aircrew.

Aerospace Medical Association

The Aerospace Medical Association is organized exclusively for charitable, educational, and scientific purposes. It is the largest, most-representative professional membership organization in the fields of aerospace medicine and human performance.

Institute of Aerospace Medicine

The DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine conducts interdisciplinary research with the overarching goal to maintain human health and performance in space, in aviation and on Earth.

Aerospace Medicine Clerkship

The four-week Aerospace Medicine Clerkship is offered twice annually during April and October at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (located in Houston, TX) and typically begins the first Monday and concludes on the last Friday of the month.

Flight Surgeon

As a Flight Surgeon, you will fly into combat and humanitarian situations to administer emergency medical care. Often, you will care for patients both on the ground and in the air. In doing so, you will be an expert in the specialized field of aviation medicine, also called flight medicine. Your role as an Officer on the U.S. Army health care team will also require you to train and mentor other aviation medical personnel.