[VRB_20kt]

I confess that I had assumed that a PMD and a self-declaration were one and the same.

[lobstaboy]

Oh good grief, we are getting tied up in knots over this.
There will be people with legacy paper declarations countersigned by their GP and I suppose if they've taken a long time they may still be training.
But a new prospective student can only do a PMD online or get a LAPL or higher medical.

[JAFO]

I confess that I had assumed that a PMD and a self-declaration were one and the same.

They are. A pilot medical declaration is a medical declaration made by a pilot. It's not meant to be confusing.

There used to be NPPL medical declarations issued by GPs. As they ended in August 2016 and the maximum validity was 5 years, they are not likely to be around for long and certainly have not been an option for a significant period of time.

[Crash one]

I may be wrong but I thought that you can’t go solo during training with a PMD, it has to be an AME issued medical. After licence issue PMD is allowed depending on aircraft type, ratings etc.