or just not coping well despite their best efforts.
You know more about it that I do, but I think if any sufferers cannot control it despite best efforts then it will be hard to get the policy changed or make an argument that it should be changed.
Sadly at 17 I got diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and had that dream crushed
Yep, I had a suspicion that this was the case....
About tail chasing, that is part of this kind of process. I have done a lot of tail chasing.
You can't prove that there are any ideal candidates who will not have complications.
There is a first time for everything.
However, we cannot predict that any pilot will not suddenly become incapable of doing the job.
For a commercial airline, you have to remember competition. Competition in the industry makes it so that an airline will have a hard time selling tickets if it is perceived as having lower standards for pilots.
The truth is, they all seem to have low standards, in the sense that pilots now report being asked to work 21 hour days, sleep deprived, not being paid a reasonable amount of money...
Can I remind you just how ridiculous the idea of flying in a metal cylinder really is? Well, fly privately, anyway, and practice medicine, but... I don't think working for a major airline is the best thing is the world, and neither is flying for the military. It sounds like you have been dealt a hand that makes you very well suited to some things, though... so...
How about doing qualitative research in a similar area, such as working conditions for pilots at major airlines.
Or working conditions for military pilots....
You can do a multiple case study, using each pilot you interview as a case. Look up grounded theory OR look up the work of Robert Yin on case study methods.
Learn about grounded theory or about case studies, and you will be ready to explore. You can conduct as many of these studies as you want.
The problem with your original idea is that it tries to accomplish to much all at once. Proving a diabetic can fly reliably will be something you work on over several related research projects, perhaps starting with a case study project about the work lives of pilots.
:-)