Also called: Aerospace Medicine physician
Military doctor who specializes in keeping pilots and aircrew healthy and fit to fly, and flies with them.
Flight surgeons see aircrew in clinic, decide who is medically cleared to fly, investigate crashes, and take flights themselves to understand the stresses on pilots' bodies. Some support astronauts. Civilian paths include FAA aviation medical examiner and NASA flight medicine.
Military physicians are officers (O-3 to O-6). Figure combines RMC with medical special pays and board-certification incentives, 2026 estimate; surgical specialties sit at the top of the range. Residents earn the lower end.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Professional degree (MD, JD, DVM…), about 11 years after high school. Medical degree plus the ~6-week flight surgeon course; some complete an aerospace medicine residency. Free-college benefits: Tuition Assistance (up to $4,500/yr) while serving, the Post-9/11 GI Bill (36 months of tuition + housing stipend) afterward, and SkillBridge internships before separating.
Ways in: Military, Professional school. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Biology, Chemistry, Aerospace Engineering (pre-med).
Growing about average. Military specialties are not in BLS projections. The services recruit for this job every year and openings track force size and retention rather than market growth.
Low risk for 10 years. AI aids screening; clearing pilots to fly and flying with them stay human.
Classes: AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.