The FAA instructed the aviation psychiatrists during academic meetings in April 2021 that in-office, in-person evaluations were the gold standard for assessment of first-time clients.

With air travel re-opening and vaccines available, the FAA believed in 2021 that the grounds for remote assessments had diminished.

I agreed with that stance and performed my last virtual evaluation in December 2020, right as COVID-19 vaccines became widely available.

The FAA’s January 22, 2025 memorandum places into writing the verbal guidance first given in 2021. You can download and read the memo if you want more information.

A HIMS psychiatric evaluation is a comprehensive psychiatric and substance use evaluation. The evaluator must be familiar with the medical standards for pilots and the HIMS program.

The HIMS psychiatric evaluation must produce a comprehensive report. Although the FAA publishes specifications for what the report must include, there is no standard template for the report. Reports vary in length but must cover every topic on the specification sheet. Even though the report is based on clinical information, its use is as evidence in a regulatory proceeding. It is not a clinical report.