PADI - overlapping online courses for Rescue/DM/IDC before taking actual in-person courses

[terramar]

Hello-

I've been diving since the early 90's, and have quite a bit of experience, but I've never gone beyond AOW certification.

I'm going to be doing my rescue, divemaster, and IDC with PADI starting in January. I know each is a prerequisite for the the next, but I have the next few months free and I'd love to get all the online course work for them all completed.

Does anyone know if it's possible to do the Rescue online stuff, and then start the DM online studies before actually doing the in-person Rescue training? Likewise, is it possible to do the IDC online stuff after having done the Rescue and DM online work, but before doing the in-person DM training?

In other words, can I front-load all the online stuff and get it out of the way, so that I can just concentrate on the in-person training once January comes?

 

[Searcaigh]

Does anyone know if it's possible to do the Rescue online stuff, and then start the DM online studies before actually doing the in-person Rescue training? Likewise, is it possible to do the IDC online stuff after having done the Rescue and DM online work, but before doing the in-person DM training?

The answer is NO

 

[terramar]

Actually, the answer turned out to be YES

 

[terramar]

Actually, the answer turned out to be YES

To quickly follow-up, I was able to arrange all the e-learning for the divemaster and IDC to be done before starting the either course. Completed all in October and November. When I arrived in Bonaire in late December, I spent several weeks doing my divemaster, and then moved right on to the IDC. I felt like I got a fair amount of decent divemaster experience over a few weeks of leading dives, anssisting in OW and AOW courses, etc. Certainly not as much as if I’d done a multi-month internship, of course, but much better than a minimal 5-day course. Doing the IDC right away seemed to actually give me a bit of a leg up compared to my fellow IDC candidates. My demonstration-level skills were tuned in compared to some who had done their DM 5-10 years previously.

Overlapping the e-learning was not an issue for the dive center or for PADI itself.

Note: I’ve been diving for a long time and have a fair amount of experience. I wasn’t trying to become a DM with the minimum requirement of 60 dives or instructor at 100 dives. I think that would be a lot more difficult and I’d wonder how well it would work in those situations.