What is your highest certification?

[yle]

So card carrying MSD, DM and Instructor are the only ways to exceed a Rescue cert?

No... but if all possible options were listed the poll would be a couple pages long. No one would vote because it would take too long to find the right option. It's totally informal, the data collected will be used for nothing important. Don't stress it...

 

[tursiops]

I find the talk of one very being “higher” or “above” another cert very silly.

The question about certification level makes sense, for PADI, sort of.
But most people want to respond about training level....that's different.
The various agencies differ in their 'certification" levels; for PADI it is OW, AOW, Rescue, MSD on the recreational path, and DM.AI, OWSI. MSDT. IDCS, MI, CD on the professional path. The TecRec path has its own alphabet soup. Note that none of the specialties are on these lists....they are training levels, not certification levels.

What has been conflated in this discussion and the others like it are (a) the various agencies, (b) the various paths, and (c) the training levels versus certification levels.

It is no wonder it is all confusing.

 

[yle]

I'm really curious about the cohort that became instructors and then got MSD. I'm trying to imagine how and why that would work... because any instructor could teach themselves the five necessary specialties (with a few exceptions... a few specialties, like nitrox, require an instructor to have taken the specialty course in order to teach it; but most do not have this requirement.)

 

[TMHeimer]

I agree somewhat that discussing "higher or above" regarding certs. is somewhat silly. Also agree than any cert. could mean either a highly efficient diver or one who did just spend a lot of time and money, or one who had a slack instructor who just ticked off boxes.
I suppose in some circumstances a person can become an instructor quite easily. My experience taking the DM course was that it was not that easy. So in general, I regard Instructor as a high level cert.
I don't think the poll was meant to have to do with how good a diver is, just a curiosity about peoples' "highest" official cert.
But, I could be wrong.....I have one of my own too....

 

[TMHeimer]

I'm really curious about the cohort that became instructors and then got MSD. I'm trying to imagine how and why that would work... because any instructor could teach themselves the five necessary specialties (with a few exceptions... a few specialties, like nitrox, require an instructor to have taken the specialty course in order to teach it; but most do not have this requirement.)

Yes, I was curious about that too. Not an exact analogy, but -- I asked about how you could renew a PADI EFR Instructor Cert. without actually TAKING the EFR course yourself every 2 years. Was told by an instructor in Florida that you can qualify for renewal by just teaching one course per year. But, I said, there would be no place at the shop or in my area where I could do this. Then, she said, "Just teach it to your wife and submit the paperwork". But, I said--She already knows CPR and has saved someone's life once in the past. Doesn't matter, she said. I never did any of that nonsense.

 

[yle]

For me certification level is secondary to experience some use the cert to pound on their chest. I think the minimum number of dives for certain certifications "DM and Instructor" are to low and if you hit the levels with the minimum numbers of dives you don't have much real world experience because all your diving has been in a class environment with an instructor. Just my 2 cents.

I find the talk of one very being “higher” or “above” another cert very silly.

I agree with both of you... but instead of seeing this poll as an attempt to "rank" everyone by their cert level, maybe just see it for what it is: an attempt to foster a discussion about what courses people have chosen to take, why they chose to take the courses (and maybe where and when), and how it has (or has not?) helped them become a better diver.

The whole point of the board is to discuss, with the hope that the more we discuss the better we'll all get at doing what we do.

 

[tomfcrist]

But most people want to respond about training level....that's different.

Is it that different?

Cave divers receive certifications...etc, etc.

In the dive pro side of the house, I’ve seen CDs and MSDTs that wouldn’t pass my AOW class.

 

[yle]

I asked about how you could renew a PADI EFR Instructor Cert. without actually TAKING the EFR course yourself every 2 years.

Oh oh oh!! I know the answer to that one!

Send PADI sixty bucks.

 

[yle]

In the dive pro side of the house, I’ve seen CDs and MSDTs that wouldn’t pass my AOW class.

Then it's possible your AOW class is a higher certification than anything on the poll. Maybe we could add it, at the end of the list?

Seriously, I think you're taking this poll a little too personally. It certainly wasn't meant to be...

 

[tomfcrist]

Then it's possible your AOW class is a higher certification than anything on the poll. Maybe we could add it, at the bottom of the list?

Seriously, I think you're taking this poll a little too personally. It certainly wasn't meant to be...

Not at all...they just sucked that bad in the water.

I’m not taking it too seriously...in fact I only responded at all because I’m bored. LOL