baldwinm
9th Oct 2002, 12:56
I got my class 1 medical certificate through the post a few days ago.
It wasn't all plain sailing as my eyes were slightly outside the limits for refractive error due to astigmatism. The CAA invited me to come for an "eyes-first" examination so that I would only have to pay for the eye test if I failed at this stage. Luckily the opthamologist said that as my corrected vision was very good they could pass my eyesight as being within the limits, given the allowance for "experimental error". Phew!
That wasn't the end of it of though. I struggled with the Ishara (?) plates in the colour blindness test - was it a 6 or a 5? I have done similar tests in the past with no problems. So then I had to do a lantern test which I failed, struggling with the whites and greens. I then was made to sit in the dark for 20 minutes whilst my eyes "adjusted". It was sheer hell, wondering whether I was going to fail, after managing to pass the vision test which I had spent so much time worrying about. However the lantern test was repeated in the darkened room and it was perfectly obvious to me what the colours where.
The rest of the examinations went fairly smoothly other than my cholestrol being slightly high - you can't fail on that though. Having a strobe light flashed a few inches from your face whilst wired up for the eeg was a bit unnerving though.
All in all the staff were extremely pleasant and you got the feeling that they really want you to pass.
Good luck to anyone else having their initial examination in the near future and relax, it can't be that bad if I passed!
It wasn't all plain sailing as my eyes were slightly outside the limits for refractive error due to astigmatism. The CAA invited me to come for an "eyes-first" examination so that I would only have to pay for the eye test if I failed at this stage. Luckily the opthamologist said that as my corrected vision was very good they could pass my eyesight as being within the limits, given the allowance for "experimental error". Phew!
That wasn't the end of it of though. I struggled with the Ishara (?) plates in the colour blindness test - was it a 6 or a 5? I have done similar tests in the past with no problems. So then I had to do a lantern test which I failed, struggling with the whites and greens. I then was made to sit in the dark for 20 minutes whilst my eyes "adjusted". It was sheer hell, wondering whether I was going to fail, after managing to pass the vision test which I had spent so much time worrying about. However the lantern test was repeated in the darkened room and it was perfectly obvious to me what the colours where.
The rest of the examinations went fairly smoothly other than my cholestrol being slightly high - you can't fail on that though. Having a strobe light flashed a few inches from your face whilst wired up for the eeg was a bit unnerving though.
All in all the staff were extremely pleasant and you got the feeling that they really want you to pass.
Good luck to anyone else having their initial examination in the near future and relax, it can't be that bad if I passed!