One of my favourite topics. To start we have to know what the $2,800 covers- room & board, etc. I assume that it's not just for the course, which normally might be 1/3 that much. I pretty much agree with Jim in that for the most part, DM course doesn't really improve your diving--much. It does force you to perfect your skills to demonstration level, so this IMO has to improve your own diving safety wise. Other than that, it is about leading people and to some degree, teaching students (at least helping with them with skills so the Instructor can re-evaluate them). As well, there is (with PADI anyway) a whole lot of academic stuff which is nice to know (some of the Physics was "watered down" in 2010 I hear). But if you take seriously the safety stuff taught in OW course, you really don't need to know a lot of the "whys" you can, for example, get DCS. There is also reading up on all of this to get the knowledge without paying a lot for the DM course. When I had no thoughts about DM it was recommended I buy the PADI Encyclo. of Rec. Diving to improve my knowledge, and there are many other books out there. I agree with Jim in that taking Rescue course should be a must for every diver. I did that with 26 logged dives--can't believe some people do hundreds of dives without this knowledge--some never taking Rescue.