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By the way, I am a MADI (I assume you meant PADI) Master Scuba Diver Trainer who is a certified cave diver and a certified advanced trimix diver. I teach about a dozen specialties. I do not, however, qualify for the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating because I do not have 5 specialties myself.
He was probably a crossover at the pro level and never had the 5 specialties from PADI. That is one possibility
An Instructor can take an MSDT "course" from a CD and recieve the MSDT rating without having the specialty as a diver.John, I have to admit I am a bit at loss with that part of your statement. These are the prerequisites to become a PADI MSDT (from the PADI website):
To qualify as a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, you must
Be a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor
Have five PADI Specialty Instructor certifications Have certified at least 25 PADI Divers
When referring to the PADI Go PRO What You Can Teach table, it states that a MSDT can teach Specialty Courses for which he/she has Qualification.
Therefore, I find it very interesting that while you can teach a dozen specialties under the umbrella of PADI, the same organization does not recognize said qualifications toward a Master Scuba Diver even if philosophically speaking, some of those might be qualifications might have been obtained through a different agency.
That may be a bit crazy but that's the way it is. OTOH, who is better prepared to teach a specialty, someone who has taken a (one day?) class in how to teach the specialty or someone who has real life experience (and experiences) in actually DOING those dives? YMMV
Another member sent me a PM describing in oh so many ways how I WAS mistaken! There are several other Specialties that require a cert in the specialty.If I am not mistaken, there are only two PADI Specialties
How many? Not specialties, but how many ways you were mistaken.(quoting myself)
Another member sent me a PM describing in oh so many ways how I WAS mistaken! There are several other Specialties that require a cert in the specialty.