Divemaster Training

[hroark2112]

I do find it amusing how defensive the OP is about the "zero to hero" comments made by some.

Let's call it "zero to dive pro", because that is exactly what it is. You're trying to take someone from zero dives to a dive pro in 4 weeks.

I personally think this kind of course, while it may contain a great deal of good training and information, does a disservice to the diver and the dive industry, and cheapens the DM rating that so many worked extremely hard to achieve.

Just my opinion.

 

[KevinNM]

I think some of the expectations are out of line with reality.

Would you feel confident with a guy who just got his full cave card leading a dive 10,000 feet into a new cave with at an average depth of 270 feet? If not, was the course therefore a joke? Would you feel confident with someone who just graduated from his trimix course to have his first non-training dive on the Andria Doria? If you don't think this is appropriate, was the trimix course therefore a joke? (I have actually seen a trimix course advertised that appeared to propose their first post-training dive would be on the Andrea Doria.)

I really don't want to be the first patient in serious trouble that a newly graduated paramedic who has just been put in charge of an ambulance sees, no matter how great the course was. I also don't want to be the patient on the first code that an intern is in charge of, no matter what medical school he just graduated from.

No matter how great the course was, eventually you get to prove whether you can really apply those skills when someone life actually depends on you making the right decisions and carrying out the right actions in the right order at the right time. Some people are simply not going to be able to do it when they need to, no matter how they performed on tests and exercises. Hopefully you have someone else right there who can back him up until you are confident that he isn't one of those.

 

[Redshift]

I saw a similar thread being opened in the Western Europe area of this board and already had my popcorn ready, but that one has no replies.

There is a mixed message here about this "zero to pro" course. You say it's a good program and you train the divers to be knowledgeable and safe and at the same time say that they are ready to continue learning and gaining experience. Well, the card you give them at the end does not say that, it says they are professionals. You're selling a card just for the card and there are many divers who go to DM just because that is the highest cert before instructor, but who don't want to work as DM, they want to flash the card. Maybe you are appealing to those.
But if a DM certified by you wants to go and work, are you shifting the responsibility of identifying good DMs to the employers? Of course they should all try to find the best, but they should also be able to trust a certification.

Instead of doing DM and then gaining more experience, what people view as being better is gaining experience and then doing DM! Of course, that one is hard to sell as a package.

Your attempt to include more training is better than other similar programs that exist out there, but the total number of dives is still short, the DMs will only know your local dive sites, your diving centre, your way of doing things... and being in winter can add some extra challenges, but what happens when you don't have customers or when it's not possible to dive? Let it slide with less dives? Do some short, shallow and sheltered dives to reach the count? That defeats the purpose...


And by the way, I dived with you some years ago. I had probably the worst DM I have ever encountered. Moving a lot underwater (hands included), "hunting" for things to show (practically harassing a small octopus)... I guess they feel the need to show stuff to the customers, and he had no depth gauge/timer and was asking us the dive time!