Should I go for it?

[lynny_lynny]

Greetings all. I have been a member for a while, but I rarely post, I tend to do more reading. I guess I needed some input from you guys.
I have been diving since 1983 and dive year round regularly. In addition, I am a physician. Well to get to the point, I contacted a local dive shop to get a run down on what I would need to do to work on my divemaster. Who knows, I may end up in some remote place of the world and open a dive operation one day
Anyway, I got a laundry list of things I would need, and I have to say, I am not entirely sure many of the prerequisites are truly necessary. For example, Advanced Open Water.... I have been diving for over 23 years.....without incident.
Secondly Emergency First Response..... I went to Med School, is this necessary? Ok so I understand Rescue Diver, because of the more specialized situations here, <even though I saved a divemaster in Cozumel....> Anyway, If someone has the "written in stone" prerequisite list, and can offer some input as to...is it worth it....I would greatly appreaciate it. Thanks

 

[deepblueme]

You didnt say what agency you were thinking of taking your DM training trhu.
PADI requires you to have AOW/Rescue to take the DM course.
In part so you know how those courses work that you will be assisting.

 

[RJP]

Anyway, If someone has the "written in stone" prerequisite list, and can offer some input as to...is it worth it....I would greatly appreaciate it. Thanks

Well AOW and EFR are prerequisites for Rescue, so there you have it. I'm sure you could zip through the EFR class, so don't sweat it. Though if you've had any sort of CME or other certification in the past 24 months that could be construed as "other qualifying training" you might luck in there. Your profile says you are AOW certified, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Here it is, not etched in stone, but duly etched in the 2006 PADI Instructor CD-ROM:

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Course Prerequisites
To qualify to enter the PADI Divemaster course, an individual must:

1. Be certified as a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver or have a qualifying certification from another training organization. A qualifying certification is defined as proof of certification beyond entry level, and proof of 20 or more logged dives documenting experience in deep diving and under water navigation.

2. Be certified as a PADI Rescue Diver or have a qualifying certification from another training organization. A qualifying certification is defined as proof of certification in diving rescue from a training organization other than PADI. If the candidate demonstrates poor or inadequate performance during the diver rescue assessment, then the candidate must complete a PADI Rescue Diver course.

3. Have completed and logged at least 20 dives as documented by the individual&#8217;s personal log book.

4. Be at least 18 years old at the start of PADI Divemaster training.

5. Submit, to the instructor, medical clearance for diving signed by a physician, attesting to fitness to dive. The medical clearance must be current within the previous 12 months. (No, the physician signing the form cannot be the individual.)

6. Submit proof of Emergency First Response Primary Care (CPR) and Secondary Care (First Aid) training (or other qualifying CPR/first aid training) within the last 24 months.

Certification Requirements
At the time of certification, a PADI Divemaster candidates must:

1. Show proof of 60 logged dives documenting experience in night diving, deep diving and underwater navigation.

2. Read and agree to abide by the PADI Membership and License Agreement.

3. Have current CPR and first aid training within the last 24 months.

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I started DM Training this Fall at the age of 40, mostly for something to do. I'm thinking of retiring from my "day job" next year and thought getting into the SCUBA industry on some level might be cool.

 

[knotical]

PADI&#8217;s prerequisites include what you list, but they accept equivalents from other agencies. Although you may well have experience way beyond what is required, the agencies understandably need a way to verify this, so they set certain prerequisites. It&#8217;s their sandbox, and we get to choose whether to play or not.

 

[The Horn]

I believe you will have to take all the courses. As I have put in other posts your dive log should count, like working in the trades, but it doesn't. I would have to take the boat diving specialty to recieve it even though I have spent half my life working at sea? It is one of those....accept it before it destroys you things. I personally am hanging up the towel at AOW because I don't feel like teaching and I have taken alot of rescue training. You may have fun...................er..........

 

[GeorgeC]

To answer your original question. Yes!

By all means go through the classes, as they will be a breeze for you. As a doctor, think about the knowledge you can give the rescue or EFR students. Maybe you might learn something new that you haven&#8217;t crossed in you diving experience.

 

[spectrum]

Yes you need to have the requisite certs. You may have saved the world but unless it was witnessed by a dive profesional in a course setting they can't base a higher level certification on it.

I will say that my diving did get ahead of my AOW and resecue certs and I went in thinking they would be redundant. While I can't say thay I learned a lot that I didn't already know hearing and doing it all in a structured setting did tie up some loose ends and made for worthwhile experiences.

You are returning to student status, put the ego away.

Pete

 

[Tienuts]

You don't need the EFR. Call PADI. When I went through my DM, I was a paramedic, and that was good enough for them. I just had to enclose a copy of my medic cert with my applications.

 

[Charlie59]

If you have BLS and ACLS cards that should suffice for EFR. Probably have to take the courses though.

I think it is worth the experience for the Divemaster Training. Heck, you might want to do the instructor training someday.

 

[TSandM]

I believe you can offer your current ACLS card as a replacement for the EFR, although there was material about first aid in EFR (which I took as part of rescue) that is certainly NOT involved in ACLS. After all, we're trained to take over AFTER the first aid/first emergency response stuff has been done.