Dave, very interesting timing on your post. I did a short, shallow dive today - first time in the water since the end of June -- with a friend who took OW with me last summer, did AOW together last summer and then did Rescue over the winter together. He is now at 53 (?) total dives, I'm at about 105 (this iteration of diving). He told me he has just started the PADI DM program and I'm sure he will be a very good DM.
HOWEVER, back to your post -- the difference between how he approached this simple dive (the deepest we could go was 40 ft -- the deepest we got was 25) and how I approached it was striking. He had given little thought to "gas managment", little thought to turn pressure, little thought to equipment check, etc. Now, REMEMBER, I'm the DIR Agnostic (and still am, honest, I have NOT gone over to the Dark Side -- I WILL NOT go over to the dark side -- NO, NO, NO [Bob, will you please bring a loaner BP/W for the boat dive Sunday? I'd like to test one out.]) and love using my computers, didn't even turn on my can light, etc.
Anyway, Dave, I feel your pain --- and honestly, think it is a travesty if your LDS won't let you integrate what you have learned into the curriculum.
I'm planning on starting the PADI DM course in October -- I've been wondering how everything will fit together?