Here is my take on specialties. There is a reason to take (or not take) them as a student; there is a reason to teach them as an instructor.
Instructor Point of View: Years ago, another instructor and I independently created a workshop on the same topic, after which we shared notes and tweaked our workshops so they were about the same. Then he got important legal advice. If a student were to have an accident during the class, there is a good chance he would be sued. In the lawsuit, the plaintiff would argue that his practices were dangerous and he should have known that. He would have to defend those practices on his own. If he instead got the workshop approved as a specialty, then he could say that his agency had reviewed the practices and approved them. If the course was taught as per the standards of the class, then the actions of the instructor and the content of the class have that measure of quality control. The plaintiff would then have to argue that the agency's diving expertise was wrong and the instructor should have known that, which would be close to impossible. My friend got the workshop approved as a distinctive specialty, and he sent the outline to me so that I could teach it as an approved specialty myself.
I teach a distinctive specialty named Understanding Overhead Environments. I had a devil of a time getting PADI to approve it, but it is approved. I would not have the courage to teach it to recreational divers without that approval. PADI gets no benefit from my teaching that specialty except for the fee for the certification card, assuming the student wants a certification card. I usually just teach the course without the card, so PADI has no way of even knowing I am teaching it. If someone were to make a claim against me after taking a class according to the standards I made myself, PADI would support me.
Student Point of View: If you want to learn something specific about diving, you choose how to learn it. Sometimes you can learn it easily by just doing it yourself. Sometimes a friend can teach you. In some cases, you may want a professional to teach you. That brings the advantage of a trained person and (often) professionally-made teaching materials. When an instructor is involved, that usually means some kind of certification, both because of the aforementioned liability and the benefit of quality control on the course content. It is your choice how you want to learn.
Summary: Over the years, I have been both a student and an instructor for a variety of advanced classes. As an instructor, I am certified to teach a very large number of specialties. As a student, I have accumulated a lot of different certifications, enough that my stack of certification cards is 2 inches thick. I have gotten them from a wide range of instructional resources, though; I do not have enough speciality certifications in that stack to qualify for the Master Scuba Diver certification.
Instructor Point of View: Years ago, another instructor and I independently created a workshop on the same topic, after which we shared notes and tweaked our workshops so they were about the same. Then he got important legal advice. If a student were to have an accident during the class, there is a good chance he would be sued. In the lawsuit, the plaintiff would argue that his practices were dangerous and he should have known that. He would have to defend those practices on his own. If he instead got the workshop approved as a specialty, then he could say that his agency had reviewed the practices and approved them. If the course was taught as per the standards of the class, then the actions of the instructor and the content of the class have that measure of quality control. The plaintiff would then have to argue that the agency's diving expertise was wrong and the instructor should have known that, which would be close to impossible. My friend got the workshop approved as a distinctive specialty, and he sent the outline to me so that I could teach it as an approved specialty myself.
I teach a distinctive specialty named Understanding Overhead Environments. I had a devil of a time getting PADI to approve it, but it is approved. I would not have the courage to teach it to recreational divers without that approval. PADI gets no benefit from my teaching that specialty except for the fee for the certification card, assuming the student wants a certification card. I usually just teach the course without the card, so PADI has no way of even knowing I am teaching it. If someone were to make a claim against me after taking a class according to the standards I made myself, PADI would support me.
Student Point of View: If you want to learn something specific about diving, you choose how to learn it. Sometimes you can learn it easily by just doing it yourself. Sometimes a friend can teach you. In some cases, you may want a professional to teach you. That brings the advantage of a trained person and (often) professionally-made teaching materials. When an instructor is involved, that usually means some kind of certification, both because of the aforementioned liability and the benefit of quality control on the course content. It is your choice how you want to learn.
Summary: Over the years, I have been both a student and an instructor for a variety of advanced classes. As an instructor, I am certified to teach a very large number of specialties. As a student, I have accumulated a lot of different certifications, enough that my stack of certification cards is 2 inches thick. I have gotten them from a wide range of instructional resources, though; I do not have enough speciality certifications in that stack to qualify for the Master Scuba Diver certification.
