Agreed.
Getting your CAAC medical is only half the battle.
Retaining your CAAC medical is the other half. And new tests seem to keep coming every time some incident happens in the cockpit.
As I spend more time here in China I get to see more of the inner workings. The relationship of your airline with the CAAC medical technicians and the CAAC regional examiner are very important. Some things can slide and other no.
If you test poorly you can retest again and again and other items you can only test bad once. There are many false positive test results. And some tests just aren't administered correctly. Take the 24 heart monitor test. I f you blow an EKG like I did because a one of the main adapters fell off in the test then you must wear a 24 hour heart monitor. You are supposed to get a paper and write down all your activities on this paper. If you exercised between 18-19:00 or had sex between 21:00-22:00. This activity influences your heart rate and is accounted for....except in China. You are to sit in your room for 24 hours and do nothing. Don't even use the stairs. I dropped something on my foot and my heart rate went up. The tech asked what happened at 7pm, it looks like you have a heart problem. I injured myself I told them. Oh, that's no good, retest. These are not doctors by the way just technicians. The CAAC doctor reviews the info later.
Another friend in Chengdu was told he had too much plaque in his heart only to be told by his physician he couldn't find anything. Another was told either epilepsy or cancer from a brain scan only to be told he was fine back home. A new test of a Cartoid Artery sonogram is now apart of the many tests and can require surgery if you want to keep your job. Another person had taken Anti-Malaria meds which influence EKGs and the doctor even when given the information about the medicine did not believe it the writing on the package. Another personal friend was tested for diabetes only to be told he was ok then next day and a similar friend with HepB. Another friend was told he had a growth in his lung and they wanted to make a biopsy. Even with letters from Chinese oncologists stating it was normal they still demanded a biopsy.
CAAC medicals are ridiculous. They befuddle even the real Chinese doctors.
Remember this and compare to your home country. Every six months a bigger risk here. This doesn't even include the politics of the CAAC.
Last edited by pilotss2001; 24th Nov 2012 at 07:00.