I had knee surgery in sept 03, was due to start class dec 03, one of the guys in training(the guy that ran the first day, when you got your jepps, think his initals were S.P.) said I needed the first class med by the time I started class, I doubt that has changed. Also, bring your passport, on the first day you can fill out all the forms for the various visas you'll need before IOE(China, India and France are the ones I can think of), it takes a while to get those, good thing training is 3 months long...