assistant instructor?

[SailNaked]

search has failed me.

what is an Assistant Instructor? just a super DM or is there a real course and fees and books and a test? My DM instructor asked me if I was going to go through AI. Um sure thing what is it.

 

[SailNaked]

never mind I read the padi site, should have done that first.

 

[vjanelle]

For those that don't want to look it up, it's really just the first 4 parts of the instructor exam.

 

[SailNaked]

Now I do have a question, and since I already started this thread ill put it here.

Is the AI useful if you intend to do an IDC? do shops give a discount to AI's on the IDC? are the books the same and thus not wasted money? I have been burned on buying books before a class only to have them included in the price when I took the course and no discount.

 

[knotical]

The AI course is the first half of the IDC. The OWSI course is the second half. How much it costs will be up to whoever conducts the courses, but the cost of taking two of them separately should not be much more than (or equal to) doing the whole IDC at once. One advantage of splitting them and waiting to do the OWSI half is the experience you gain as an AI.

 

[01sugar2]

I'm close to half way through the AI course at the moment, and I'd like to add a little something to this discussion. According to our CD on staff, PADI is about to change their curriculum on their scoring system, and it sounds like their IDC Workbook and Instructor Manuals are also about to change. I purchased my IDC crew kit as a DM, but I wanted to make use of it now before this change happens and my materials are obsolete. In saying that, if you have current IDC books and you haven't used them for a class, you might want to consider it before you have to buy new materials.

On the positive side, this is a pretty amazing course. If you ever thought it would be fun to teach classes or if you would really like to push your dive skills to a new level, I'd recommend making the push into AI. I think that once you're done with AI, you'll know for sure rather you want to go through with the full IDC and complete your OWSI certification or not. AI will also provide you with a lot more hands-on responsibility opportunities during classes with other instructors, and if you read that information on PADI's website you'll see what you'll be able to do as an AI that you can't already do as a DM. I say go for it if you're even thinking about the step-up! I am and haven't regretted a moment of my decision.

Dustin

 

[Interceptor121]

My personal recommendation is to do the full IDC unless you really know a referenced IDC staff instructor
The reasons is twofold. First the logistics of an IDC are usually better than a private AI class at normal resort, second the assistant instructor really is an intermediate step that does not allow you to do much more unless you are in a busy dive center that regularly has classes of 4+ student or even 8+ and it becomes logistically important to have the AI evaluating the surface skills.
For example while the instructor does the CESA the AI does the weight belt, BCD removal, cramp removal and so on with the rest of the students at the surface

 

[01sugar2]

I agree with Interceptor on this one. We are blessed to have a fairly active shop, and I would be able to make use of the AI cert. a lot more than many probably could. The two AI's in our class (myself being one of them) went ahead and said that we'd like to complete the IDC, and I believe that we're two good candidates for the course. There is quite a bit to the IDC so do plan ahead with your time. This is a very rewarding experience and I'm very happy that I made the choice to take the classes.

Dustin