Legislature establishes North Dakota Center for Aerospace Medicine

Center at UND will be an interprofessional project between School of Aerospace Sciences, School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Student Health Services and University Counseling Center

The North Dakota Legislature has approved a bill to establish a new entity, the North Dakota Center for Aerospace Medicine, at the University of North Dakota.

Gov. Kelly Armstrong signed the bill, House Bill 1612, on April 29. The bill directs the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences to establish the interprofessional center in collaboration with the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS), Student Health Services, University Counseling Center and other campus partners.

The North Dakota Center for Aerospace Medicine’s mandate will be to provide mental health support and Federal Aviation Administration medical certification assistance to pilots, and aviation professionals across the state. The approved measure provides up to $250,000 in one-time funding to establish the center.

“With the Governor’s signing of House Bill 1612, North Dakota takes a bold step forward in shaping the future of aerospace medicine,” said Marjorie Jenkins, dean of the UND SMHS. “This center represents a landmark collaboration between two of UND’s most innovative programs. By uniting medicine and aerospace science, we’re creating a national model for interdisciplinary research and education that will address the unique health challenges of flight and space exploration.”

Robert Kraus, dean of Aerospace, heralded the collaborative nature of the center, and said its establishment keeps North Dakota at the forefront of aerospace and medical research and education.

“The establishment of the North Dakota Center for Aerospace Medicine builds upon the pioneering efforts initiated at UND, uniting resources from across the aerospace profession to propel us toward safer skies and healthier journeys,” Kraus said. “By offering mental health support and conducting cutting-edge research in aviation and space medicine, North Dakota continues to lead the way.”

Elizabeth Bjerke, associate dean of Aerospace, and Jessica Doty, director of Student Health, were instrumental in laying the foundation of the Center for Aerospace Medicine. In addition to conceptualizing the Center, and thereby creating a statewide network of pilot support, both Bjerke and Doty travelled to Bismarck to testify before the Legislature in support of the bill, as did more than two dozen other people, including Jenkins and industry experts.

In her testimony, Bjerke explained that pilots must hold an FAA Medical Certificate in order to fly. These certificates can only be issued by designated Aviation Medical Examiners. Pilots must then maintain this certification through regular examinations.

When it comes to mental health issues, pilots face a unique situation, one that discourages them from seeking mental health care.

When experiencing anxiety or depression, for example, non-pilots can see their primary care physician or therapist without jeopardizing their careers. Pilots experiencing a mental health condition cannot do that, as they are required to see a specialized Aviation Medical Examiner called a Human Intervention Motivational Study (HIMS AME).

Should medication be prescribed, pilots would then face a lengthy period of time when they could not fly, which in turn would impact their ability to support their families, as they would need to navigate the complex medical certification process.

Bjerke also said access to the specialized HIMS AME is limited, which only complicates the situation for pilots.

“All of these barriers combined leads to a dangerous culture of pilots not seeking the health care they need to thrive,” she said, in her testimony.

Doty, in her own testimony, agreed.

“Today, there is limited access to aerospace medicine specialists in North Dakota to assist pilots through stringent FAA requirements for medical certificates,” she said. “This often creates a difficult and scary process to navigate when pilots are facing mental health challenges.”

Concern for aviation students at UND increased following the Coronavirus Pandemic, which began in early March 2020. In the spring of 2021 UND aviation faculty and administrators brought together experts from across the campus to discuss aviation mental health and to brainstorm ways to assist the aviation student population.

Despite that effort, tragedy befell UND Aviation in the fall of 2021, with the death of John Hauser, who was on a training flight to Fargo. Hauser’s death made it imperative that UND Aerospace officials needed to work to effect change in the aviation industry.

Since then, a number of initiatives have been enacted, including establishing the annual Aviation Mental Health Summit in Dec. 2021 and directing $600,000 in investment funds to build an aerospace medicine network to increase access to care for students. The newly established Aerospace Medicine Center builds on those important steps.

“By establishing the North Dakota Center for Aerospace Medicine, we would be able to create a statewide network by leveraging the expertise established at UND,” she said in her testimony.

Per the text of House Bill 1612, the Center for Aerospace Medicine will:

• “Provide mental health resources and assistance to obtain medical certification from the federal aviation administration to flight students, pilots, and aviation professionals in the fields of commercial aviation, unmanned aircraft systems, and air traffic control;”
• “Cooperate with the federal aviation administration office of aerospace medicine;”
• “Support access, including rural access, to mental health resources, aviation medical examiners, and human intervention motivational study aviation medical examiners;”
• “Provide support to assist aviation medical examiners, human intervention motivational study aviation medical examiners, and applicants with federal aviation administration requirements;”
• “Facilitate collaboration between research initiatives across the state related to aviation and space medicine;”
• “Provide mental health education and outreach.”

The full text of the bill can be found online, on the North Dakota Legislature’s website.

Media Contact: Adam Kurtz, adam.kurtz.1@UND.edu