From what I can see the only reason not to take this course is because PADI has told their affiliates not to honor the C-card and not to provide fills. PADI has 2 main reasons they may want to do this; 1. as the dominant organization they wish to maintain standards, and 2. use their market position to limit competition. One reason is acceptable and one is not (quite possibly a violation of competition laws). I have checked out the web page and here is a list of the modules for the Nitrox course;
Module 1
Review of Scuba & Intro to Nitrox The history of Enriched Air Nitrox
What is Nitrox?
Review of Basic Scuba Diving Concepts
What is Pressure?
What about Air consumption?
How long I stay underwater on a tank of nitrox?
Decompression Sickness (The Bends)
Review the Dive Tables
Module 2
Underwater Sciences - Physics Dalton's Law of Physics
Oxygen Toxicity
Partial Pressure - Nitrox I
Partial Pressure - Nitrox II
The Advantages of Nitrox over Air
Nitrox for Decompression stops
Module 3
Nitrox Dive Planning Equivalent Air Depths
Maximum Exposure Time Limits
Nitrox I Dive Tables
Nitrox II Dive Tables
Module 4
Nitrox Scuba Equipment Cylinder Markings
Nitrox safe scuba equipment
This appears to be a pretty comprehensive course. It appears to be comparable to the PADI course I completed; except for having to have my LDS demonstrate how to use an O2 sensor (which you can find online).
aside from PADI refusing to accept it, can anyone find fault with the program?