Specialties and MSDT

Overview

PADI Specialty Instructor Training courses teach instructor candidates how to organize, promote and conduct PADI Specialty Diver courses. These courses emphasize the importance of Specialty Diver training within the PADI System of diver education. Often, several Specialty Instructor Training courses are taught in conjunction with one another as part of a Master Scuba Diver Trainer (MSDT) Preparatory program.

By completing a Specialty Instructor Training Course, instructor candidates need only document 10 logged open water dives (20 for Semiclosed Rebreather) in the specialty area, rather than the 20 dives required when applying directly to PADI. These dives may be completed as part of the Specialty Instructor Training course. The formal education provided by Specialty Instructor Training courses also eliminates the need for instructors to have certified 25 divers.

The PADI Enriched Air Instructor Training course differs from other PADI Specialty Instructor Training courses in that it requires the use of all PADI Enriched Air Diver training materials. Enriched Air Instructor Training emphasizes the importance of observing and teaching necessary enriched air protocols and the effective use of the various PADI enriched air tables and other training materials.

Course Structure

Knowledge development and open water training sessions are required for all PADI Specialty Instructor Training courses except PADI Equipment Specialist, PADI Project AWARE and some distinctive specialties that require only knowledge development and/or confined water training. As in most specialty diver courses, the focus is on open water objectives (or workshops and demonstrations for non-diving specialties). You must include all objectives listed in the specialty diver course outline distributed to instructor candidates.

For example, the PADI Night Diver Specialty course includes three dives. The PADI Night Diver Specialty Instructor Training course requires only one dive, however, all performance requirements for the three dives may be performed on that dive.

Courses are usually conducted over two days. No more than three training dives may be conducted per day. The maximum Instructor Candidate-to-Course Director ratio is 8:1 with an additional eight candidates allowed per IDC Staff Instructor. IDC Staff Instructors assisting with PADI Enriched Air Diver Specialty Instructor courses must have a PADI Enriched Air Diver Instructor rating. When available, have instructor candidates use all related PADI Specialty Diver materials and show the professional version of the specialty video in class or assign viewing as independent study.

Performance Requirements

By the end of a PADI Specialty Instructor Training course, instructor candidates must:

1. Present one micro-teaching knowledge development presentation from the specialty diver course outline.
2. State the purpose and goals of the specialty diver course.
3. Locate the Key Course Standards for the specialty diver course in the PADI Instructor Manual, and explain the course standards and procedures.
4. List student diver and instructor equipment requirements.
5. Explain the specialty diver course open water training considerations.
6. Demonstrate mastery of all knowledge development and water skill performance requirements for the specialty diver course.
7. In open water, conduct a practice teaching assignment and demonstrate all open water performance requirements for the specialty diver course.
8. Describe how to conduct all course segments in a manner that enables divers to meet course performance requirements.
9. Describe successful marketing and promotional techniques to promote specialty diver training as part of the PADI System.
10. Determine costs involved in the pricing of specialty training.

Required Dives

Specialty	Dives	Specialty	Dives
Boat	1	Underwater Photography	1
Deep	2	Underwater Naturalist	1
Diver Propulsion Vehicle	1	Underwater Navigator	1
Drift	1	Underwater Videographer	1
Dry Suit	1	Wreck	2
Enriched Air	1	Aware Coral Reef Conservation	0*
Ice	2	Aware Fish Identification	1
MultiLevel	1	Peak Performance Buoyancy	1*
Night	1	Project Aware	0*
Search and Recovery	2	Distinctive	varies

* PADI Assistant Instructors and PADI Instructors are eligible to conduct PPB and Project Aware Specialty Instructor courses without completing a Specialty Instructor Training Course. However, the Peak Performance Buoyancy and Project Aware Specialty Instructor ratings do not qualify as one of the 5 certifications for the Master Scuba Diver Trainer (MSDT).

Key Standards

• Prerequisite Certification:
  • PADI Assistant Instructor,
  • PADI Instructor
  • or have completed a PADI IDC / OWSI program within the previous 12 months.
• Minimum Age:
  • 18 Minimum
• Open Water Training:
  • As specified in each section.
• Minimum Trainer Rating:
  • PADI Course Director with Specialty Instructor and Specialty Instructor Trainer ratings for the specialty diver course offered Instructor Candidate-to-Course Director.

Do you want to be more marketable as a PADI Instructor?

Call IDC Utila (in Honduras) at ++504 425-3211 today!
or Contact at CourseDirector_Tec@DeepBlueUtila.com