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signing up for DM class


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5 replies to this topic

#1 echo3

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Posted 07 July 2009 - 02:29 PM

fresh out of the water after being signed off on Rescue Diver, and before the cert card comes, I'm going to jump in with both feet and go for DM. I've already made an appointment for my physical :wakawaka:


anyone have any problems with the medical?

any tips for the watermanship & skill assessment portion?

(PADI)
"I'll fight it, but I won't kill it. Now, what about my dynamite?" - Steve Zissou

#2 hambergler

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Posted 07 July 2009 - 08:22 PM

Get your blood pressure down if you even THINK it is up (trust me on this one, especially if you're over 40).

Go swimming. A LOT. Without fins and mask and snorkel, and with fins and mask and snorkel. Then swim more.

Get your DM manual now, and read it know it live it. Repeat. Relearn the tables (I had to learn the Wheel from scratch last year). JS Haldane and theoretical tissue compartments are your mentor. Reread the Rescue Diver manual.

Practice skills, especially the more complex underwater ones. Learn to live underwater without your mask. Partial and full flooding, removing, and clearing of same should be second nature. Bouyancy skills should be second nature (hover, fin pivot, etc.). Learn to anticipate underwater idiocy. Start watching other divers and how they act/interact even closer, both above and below water, then think about it and how it might turn out.

Unlike Instructor, theatrics and acting play a big part. Learn to work the crowd (does your BC really have to be empty for the skill? Is that breath really a full one for the skill?); students don't know the difference.

Edited by hambergler, 07 July 2009 - 08:28 PM.

I'm growing older but not up,
My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck.
Let those winds of time blow over my head,
I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead.

#3 shadragon

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Posted 08 July 2009 - 05:46 AM

Go swimming. A LOT. Without fins and mask and snorkel, and with fins and mask and snorkel. Then swim more.


:thankyou:

What he said... Be ready for intense mental and physical tests that will last many months and be one of the most rewarding courses you can take. Read, understand, practice... Then repeat, repeat, repeat...
Remember, email is an inefficient communications forum. You may not read things the way it was intended. Give people the benefit of the doubt before firing back... Especially if it is ME...! ;)

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#4 Capn Jack

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Posted 08 July 2009 - 08:38 PM

fresh out of the water after being signed off on Rescue Diver, and before the cert card comes, I'm going to jump in with both feet and go for DM. I've already made an appointment for my physical :wakawaka:


anyone have any problems with the medical?

any tips for the watermanship & skill assessment portion?

(PADI)

Glad to see the interest. I have never regretted going through DM training - it is great. Although I think Rescue is a close second that EVERY diver should do.

I'd find a doctor who dives. Mine does, and I think you owe it to yourself to see one who understands diving physiology. You WILL get ear infections, barotrauma and possible physical issues getting thrown around if you're working a boat. If your health is questionable - stick to recreational diving - the last thing you'll want is a student or a novice client trying to help YOU if you're stroking out. I would not try to paperwork your way around a medical issue. If you have sinus problems, you might find an ENT diver that can advise you on surgical options etc.

Working as a DM is why I continue to it - I like both helping instructors manage their class, tutor the folks having trouble etc. and taking clients out on the boat for the first time.

Before I started, I'd had a fair amount of diving experience over many years, with a huge gap when the kids came along. I second what the others say about getting your endurance up before you start. The minimum PADI standards for DM endurance are readily attainable - but that is one area where this can be viewed as a sport - the other 2 in my DM class and I routinely competed on that, as well as the other skills.

Good news is you will not have to spend any time planning how to invest the cash flow.

If you want to serious work as a DM and "live the life", I'd say get a little experience as a DM, then get your instructor ticket. DMs are nice to have on a boat, but you are much more valuable when you can offer their clients other certs besides UW Digital Photography and EFR.

Keep us posted on your progress. If you have a choice between interning with several classes, or taking the simulated route - go for the internship. I think I learned much more over that summer than I possibly could have in a simulated session.

Edited by Capn Jack, 08 July 2009 - 08:45 PM.

No aquarium, no tank in a marine land, however spacious it may be, can begin to duplicate the conditions of the sea. And no dolphin who inhabits one of those aquariums or one of those marine lands can be considered normal.
Jacques Yves Cousteau

#5 echo3

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Posted 09 July 2009 - 09:07 AM

...
I'd find a doctor who dives. Mine does, and I think you owe it to yourself to see one who understands diving physiology. You WILL get ear infections, barotrauma and possible physical issues getting thrown around if you're working a boat. ....



The MD doing my DM physical is one of the doctors who Endorsed the PADI form and works in the Hyperbaric field. My ENT also dives.

I'm not spending a dime on DM till I pass the physical.


about the RD comments; Completing RD was anti climatic for me, I didn't see the big deal in it, just like AOW and MSD.
I DO agree that the things learned in RD should be things that ALL divers know. AOW was just an exposure to various different things you could do in scuba, most of which are things normal divers do anyway or should be part of OW. MSD is basically(~) just the completion of 50 dives and 5 specialities. While I can see the need for proper training, I'm getting that the important thing for PADI is the need to create revenue (the cost of materials, class and the PIC fees add up).
DM on the other hand, is what I envision SD beyond OW; learning, self improvement and giving back to the 'sport' through mentoring.
YMMV
"I'll fight it, but I won't kill it. Now, what about my dynamite?" - Steve Zissou

#6 hambergler

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Posted 15 July 2009 - 07:42 PM

...
I'd find a doctor who dives. Mine does, and I think you owe it to yourself to see one who understands diving physiology. You WILL get ear infections, barotrauma and possible physical issues getting thrown around if you're working a boat. ....



The MD doing my DM physical is one of the doctors who Endorsed the PADI form and works in the Hyperbaric field. My ENT also dives.

I'm not spending a dime on DM till I pass the physical.


about the RD comments; Completing RD was anti climatic for me, I didn't see the big deal in it, just like AOW and MSD.
I DO agree that the things learned in RD should be things that ALL divers know. AOW was just an exposure to various different things you could do in scuba, most of which are things normal divers do anyway or should be part of OW. MSD is basically(~) just the completion of 50 dives and 5 specialities. While I can see the need for proper training, I'm getting that the important thing for PADI is the need to create revenue (the cost of materials, class and the PIC fees add up).
DM on the other hand, is what I envision SD beyond OW; learning, self improvement and giving back to the 'sport' through mentoring.
YMMV


PADI = Put Another Dollar In
I'm growing older but not up,
My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck.
Let those winds of time blow over my head,
I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead.




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