Yes/No requirement for Med form

[JackD342]

Not arguing with your logic or the basic idea that an instructor should be able to say no.

But what happens when an instructor, using professional judgement, says no and the student walks over to another instructor and gets trained/certified?

The first instructor still sleeps easy at night.

 

[martincohn]

What happens is that the student gets certified. What are you suggesting?

If instructor A says no, and instructor B teaches and certs the diver the claim of professional judgement might just go out the window.

As for the student, guess they go blow bubbles. Or they die.

 

[JackD342]

If instructor A says no, and instructor B teaches and certs the diver the claim of professional judgement might just go out the window.

As for the student, guess they go blow bubbles. Or they die.

Professional judgement here is no more "black & white" than is a medical opinion. Think of it as a dive computer algorithm - lots of variance out there regarding degree of conservativeness (is that a word?) and method of achieving it, but none are absolutely right or wrong.

 

[KenGordon]

To the people who second guess the doctors, what if the doctor was a proper hyperbaric doctor?

 

[Altamira]

To the people who second guess the doctors, what if the doctor was a proper hyperbaric doctor?

Or an ex-U.S. Navy Dive Medical Officer?

 

[tridacna]

If instructor A says no, and instructor B teaches and certs the diver the claim of professional judgement might just go out the window.

What claim? What window? As an instructor, you're allowed to turn down any student that you don't feel comfortable teaching. If they're rude, obnoxious, unfit or any other reason, you don't HAVE to teach them. This is not a public school. One of my buddies enjoys teaching kids who are "on the spectrum". Others don't. As long as you don't discriminate on the basis of sex, religion or color, you can pretty much do whatever you please.

 

[JackD342]

To the people who second guess the doctors, what if the doctor was a proper hyperbaric doctor?

Again, there are a lot of different scenarios here. It is my belief/hope that most responsible instructors that find the need to refuse a student for training due to medical concerns even with MD sign-off, are doing so as part of a discussion of those concerns that involves the diver, diver's parents if a minor, and where applicable the MD and/or DAN.

If someone is making an apparently random refusal due to a medical concern apparently on a whim, I'll agree that there might be a bit of ego involved and probably not someone I want in my operation, even if they do have that option. (I do know a pretty good instructor that just refuses to train any minor divers under a certain age. We have not discussed it at length for me to cite exactly what age, or the reasons involved.)

Success in this (and any) business relies on trying to find ways to "yes" to the customer. So off-hand dismissal of a potential customer is poor business. But carefully considered, reasoned, and communicated refusal if necessary is the responsible thing to do.

So, a "proper hyperbaric doctor" would go a LONG way towards resolving any hesitancy I might have IF the issue came up. I have never turned away anyone for a medical reason, but I do reserve the option to do so if I just don't feel right about bringing a student underwater no matter what anyone else says. I just doubt that will happen.

 

[Jcp2]

Literally just had my doctor fill out the Padi medical exam form letter as part of my annual checkup so I have something for the next year “just in case” I take a course or dive somewhere that requires such an attestation because I am over 45 and had mildly elevated cholesterol (now resolved).

 

[Hoyden]

To the people who second guess the doctors, what if the doctor was a proper hyperbaric doctor?

We are lucky to have a couple of local hyperbaric physicians who are trained and certified in Diving Medicine. When there are questions regarding medical fitness to dive, we have ready access to qualified expert opinions. There have definitely been situations where a someone's regular physician has signed off, but we still have concerns. We refer these cases to them and generally, this has led to the potential diver either getting treatment for something and then diving or not diving.

YMMV.

 

[jeansrme72]

This is exactly why a good friend of mine no longer will turn in the form with a "yes" and a doctors signature, he simply puts "no" down on every question.

I put no to all answers as did my dive buddy. I am type 1 diabetic for 42 years no complications. And only was hospitalized. At 8 years old when I was diagnosed. Me and my dive buddy are now open water certified. We both cut or long acting insulin in half for the day of dive and micro manage our short acting insulin at pre meal time. We know what signs to look for in each other and we are never in the dark about our blood sugar. I maintain an A1C below 7 and I am physically fit. I agree that the waiver on the boat is enough and I do not want my medical info in the hands of padi.