Prepare
Getting ready is most of the job.
The single most common reason an AMSA medical cannot go ahead is paperwork, not health. Almost all of it is within your control, and everything you need is on this page.
On this page
Before you attend
The short checklist.
If you can tick all nine, your appointment will almost certainly proceed. Each one links to the detail below.
Important
Book earlier than you think you need to
If the assessment identifies something that needs a further test or a report from a treating specialist, that takes time. Booking well ahead of a mobilisation or joining date is what gives you room to sort it out without missing the vessel.
- If this is your first AMSA medical, have your chest X-ray done at least three business days beforehand. We issue the referral and help you book it. Detail
- Complete the combined consent and release of medical information form. Detail
- Complete the applicant section of the AMSA medical examination questionnaire, which is Part A of AMSA form 232. Detail
- Find your original passport or Australian driver licence, and check it has not expired and that the name matches the name you booked under. Detail
- If you have one, dig out your previous Certificate of Medical Fitness, even if it has expired. Detail
- Put your glasses or contact lenses, and any hearing aid with spare batteries, somewhere you will not forget them. Detail
- Write down your current medications, including the dose. Detail
- Collect any recent specialist reports that relate to a condition the assessment will consider. Detail
- Check which clinic you are attending, how you will get there and where you will park. Detail
Failure mode one
The two forms you must complete.
Both must be finished before you attend. Arriving without them is the most common reason an appointment is refused, postponed or cancelled.
Note
Read them before you attend
Both forms are below as watermarked previews, so you can see exactly what you will be asked before you arrive. They are for reading, not for filling in: the version that counts is the one sent to you by secure link once your appointment is arranged.
Document one
Combined consent and release of medical information
This is a single Marlu Health document, not two separate forms. It records your consent to the examination, and it governs the release of your medical information, including what an employer may receive.
You sign it personally. Nobody can sign it on your behalf, including an employer or a company coordinator.
Document two
AMSA medical examination questionnaire
This is Part A of AMSA form 232, the medical examination report, and the only part you complete. It collects your personal and medical history and the declarations the assessment requires, and it includes an authority for the examining medical inspector to obtain relevant details from your treating doctors.
The medical inspector completes Part B during the assessment, which is why the preview is Part A only. The form is not submitted to AMSA; the inspector retains it.
Please read
What happens if they are not complete
If these are not complete when you arrive, Marlu Health may refuse to proceed, postpone or cancel your appointment. Staff on site may allow you to complete them at the clinic, but this is at their discretion and is not guaranteed. You may not be entitled to a refund.
The questionnaire asks about your full medical history, so it takes real time. It is not something to rush in a waiting room. Treat completing it beforehand as a requirement rather than a preference.
Before you start filling them in
Have these to hand and the questionnaire becomes much quicker:
- Your previous Certificate of Medical Fitness, if you have one, even if it has expired.
- A list of your current medications, including the dose and how long you have been taking them.
- Dates, roughly, for any significant illness, injury, operation or hospital admission.
- Contact details for your treating doctors, including any specialist you see, because the authority section asks for them.
- Any recent specialist report relating to a condition the assessment will consider.
Answer honestly. The assessment is a clinical judgement made against published standards, and an omission discovered later is far more damaging to your certificate than a condition disclosed up front and managed.
What you are working towards
The Certificate of Medical Fitness is AMSA form 303. You do not complete any part of it. The examining medical inspector issues it where the assessment supports it, recording the determination reached.
Note
Trouble opening the forms?
Tell us when you arrange your appointment. Limited data, no printer or no easy way to open a PDF are all normal problems at sea, and none of them should cost you an appointment.
Failure mode two
Identification you must bring.
Bring the original document. A photograph of it, a photocopy or a digital version is not enough, and an exception cannot be made at the counter.
Accepted
- An original current passport
- An original current Australian driver licence
Bring the original document. Marlu Health does not ask you to upload identification when you book.
Not accepted as primary identification
- An overseas driver licence is not accepted as primary identification
If you hold an overseas licence, bring your original current passport instead. This catches out a lot of seafarers trained overseas, so it is worth checking now rather than at the counter.
Important
If you cannot produce acceptable identification
Marlu Health may refuse to proceed, postpone or cancel the appointment, and the cancellation and refund rules then apply. Check your document is current, and that the name on it matches the name you booked under, before you travel to the clinic.
Note
Why the rules are this strict
A Certificate of Medical Fitness is a regulated document that permits you to work at sea. The examining medical inspector has to be able to establish beyond doubt that the person assessed is the person named on the certificate. That is the whole reason an original document is required.
Marlu Health does not ask you to upload identification when you book. You bring the original to the appointment instead.
Failure mode three
What to bring.
Including the things people forget, which are usually the spare batteries and the expired certificate.
Essential
- Original photo identificationA current passport or Australian driver licence. Not a photograph, not a photocopy and not a digital version.
- Your completed consent and release formSigned by you personally.
- Your completed AMSA questionnairePart A of AMSA form 232, finished before you arrive.
Bring if it applies to you
- Your previous Certificate of Medical Fitness, if you have oneBring it even if it has expired. It gives the examiner your assessment history, which can save time and questions. If this is your first AMSA medical you will not have one, and that is expected.
- Glasses or contact lensesBring what you actually use. Vision is tested both with and without an aid, so the examiner needs the real thing.
- Hearing aid and spare batteriesMarine Order 76 requires a seafarer who needs a hearing aid to carry spare batteries at sea, so bringing them is a good habit as well as practical on the day.
- A list of your current medicationsInclude the dose and how long you have been taking each one.
- Recent specialist reportsAnything relating to a condition the assessment will consider. Bringing a report on the day is far quicker than requesting one afterwards.
Note
Do not fast unless we ask you to
There is a lot of contradictory advice about fasting for seafarer medicals. For an AMSA STCW medical with Marlu Health, do not fast unless the clinic specifically asks you to. If a fasting test is needed for your assessment, you will be told when your appointment is arranged.
First AMSA medical only
The chest X-ray, and the three days it needs.
AMSA requires a chest X-ray for anyone entering the maritime industry for the first time, which its standards also call a pre-sea medical. It is not part of a routine AMSA medical.
Marlu Health issues the referral and helps you book it with Western Radiology, so you are not left finding a radiology clinic yourself. The X-ray is performed off site, not at a Marlu Health clinic.
Leave at least 3 business days between the X-ray and your medical. The assessment cannot proceed without the result, so booking both in the same week is the most common way a first appointment is lost.
Beyond first time applicants, AMSA requires a chest X-ray only where there is a relevant history or where it is clinically indicated. AMSA states plainly that there is no requirement for routine chest X-rays, so if you have held an AMSA certificate before, you should not expect one.
Chest X-ray, pre-sea medical
$120Includes $10.91 GST. $109.09 excl. GSTCharged separately from the medical, and never added into the fee for your appointment. The amount is published so you can plan for it.
Who invoices the X-ray is being confirmed
Important
Tell us if your date is tight
If your preferred appointment is less than 3 business days away and this is your first AMSA medical, say so when you contact us. We would rather move the date than have you attend an appointment that cannot be completed.
On the day
When to arrive, and how long to allow.
Arrive 15 minutes before your appointment time, and allow 90 minutes in total. That applies at every clinic. This is a full assessment rather than a short consultation, so it is worth booking the time off properly.
Osborne Park
33B Walters DriveOsborne Park WA 6017Free dedicated parking bays, plus free and paid street parking nearby.
Parking, transport and arrival detailMurdoch
Suite 403, Level 4, Tower CMurdoch Square44 Barry Marshall ParadeMurdoch WA 6150Paid parking in the Murdoch Square car park or the St John of God Murdoch open air car parks. Both fill up between 8:00am and 3:00pm, so public transport is worth considering.
Parking, transport and arrival detailWembley
Suite 1, 178 Cambridge StreetWembley WA 6014Free dedicated parking bays, plus free and paid street parking. The bays are at the back of the building, beside the large Envision radiology sign. Parking can be difficult between 10:00am and 3:00pm.
Parking, transport and arrival detailNote
What to say at reception
Where a clinic shares a reception with another practice, tell the desk what you are there for. At Murdoch and Wembley the wording is: “Tell reception you are here for an AMSA medical under Marlu Health.”
Note
If you cannot take a weekday off
Osborne Park is the only location open on a Saturday. If a weekday is difficult, ask for that clinic when you contact us.