As I said in my first post, you need 25 certifications and at least 5 Specialty Instructor ratings to qualify for MSDT, REGARDLESS of which method you use. It's the number of logged dives per Specialty that differs in the Options.
If you do Option #1 with a CD, you need 10 logged dives to qualify for each Specialty. The other two Options require 20 logged dives to achieve each Specialty.
Example:
You do 20 logged dives in U/W Photography and use PADI's U/W Photo Instructor Outline to submit them to PADI to get your U/W Photo Instructor rating. You then do the same thing for Night, Deep, Drysuit, and Wreck Specialties. Meanwhile, in addition to the Open Water, Adventures in Diving, and Rescue Diver certifications you have made, you also certifiy divers in Photo, Wreck, or whatever other Specialties you hold, to finally achieve a total of 25 certifications. At THAT point, you can apply to PADI for your MSDT rating.
Hope that clears things up,
~SubMariner~
