The PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor Course isn’t easy, but
there are moments that make it all worthwhile.
“On your Open Water Teaching Presentations, you received a 4.8.”
With that simple statement from Mark,
the PADI Examiner, I knew that I had passed all sections of my PADI Instructor Exam and
the stress that I was feeling for the past several weeks was finally over!!! I
am now officially a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor. Wow,
what a feeling of euphoria since I was not very confident when I started the
preparatory days and Instructor
Development Course (IDC). The reason for not
being confident was because, compared to the other three IDC candidates who
recently obtained their PADI
Divemaster rating or were
gainfully employed as a Divemaster, I obtained my Divemaster rating in 2009 and
had not used the skills for the past 4.5 years. Essentially, I was doing
the IDC and Instructor Exams (IE) “cold turkey” because I flew out to the
Dominican Republic on a Tuesday, and was enrolled the following Thursday in the
IDC program with Los Pargos Rojos Diving.
Originally, I was scheduled to undergo
my IDC with Sea Explorers in Dauin but since the other IDC candidates pulled
out, I was the only one left and, unfortunately, it was cancelled since you
can’t really effectively have an IDC with just one person. I immediately
got online and was able to locate the website of Los Pargos Rojos Diving and
saw they had an IDC scheduled in Dominican Republic and contacted Kat about the
possibility of joining their IDC on such short notice. I was ecstatic once I got word
that I was officially “on board” and consequently, on my part, there was zero
prepping and studying for the water skills circuit and 5 sections of the dive
theory.
Prep day one of the course involved
introducing ourselves and providing some background information as to why each
of us wanted to become instructors followed by filling out all manner of
registration and liability forms. Once that was done, we were given the
exam for each of the 5 sections of the dive theory just to find out where both
our weak and strong points were regarding: Physics, Physiology, Equipment,
Diving Skills/Environment, and RDP and Decompression.
I passed the Physiology section but on
each of the 4 other sections, I completely bombed them all especially the
Physics section since the only equation I could only remember was “PV = PV”…so
I had a lot of theory ground to make up if I wanted to successfully finish this
IDC and go on to the IE. All of this mental beating took place before lunch
and afterwards, it was in the classroom with Tim going over the Physics
problems that all of us struggled with in the exam. This was all well and
good but trying to stay awake after a nice lunch and a full stomach, coupled with
residual jet-lag, didn’t do wonders for my ability to concentrate on the
problems and solutions. Thankfully, I took some good notes, even though I
barely understood the what, why, when, and where of problem solving at the
time; however, I was able to confer with my classmates the next morning when I
was more alert and cohesive regarding my mental acuity. After dinner, I
was bone tired and still jet-lagged so I put myself to an early bed in order to
get some much needed rest and to get up early in the morning…so ended the first
day!
Prep day two started early by finishing
off the eLearning part of the IDC that I started several days ago and reviewing
the water skills demonstrations since that was the assignments after
breakfast. The very next assignment on the IDC
schedule was showing demonstration quality
water skills (or rather my lack thereof) to the
two IDC Course Directors, Gabrielle and Tim. I watched and “relearned” the various 24 skills (it was
only 20 back in 2009) required by watching my three colleagues as they
performed their water skills flawlessly and I attempted to perform said
skills. Needless to say, it was really “monkey see, monkey do” for me as
I struggled to remember the various steps and “critical attributes” that went
into the demonstration quality skills presentation!!! There were a few
5’s (out of 5) but a lot of 3’s which are passing but not by much.
Fortunately for me, over the course of
the IDC, my fellow candidates and Course Directors helped me along by giving me
many tips and pointers as we practiced together at the pools of both Liquid and Atmosphere so that by the time the IDC ended, I was pulling mostly
4-5’s. After lunch, it was back into the classroom where we spent the
afternoon again on dive theory issues, specifically Recreational Dive Planner
(RDP) calculations and using the eRDPml. After dinner, it was back in the
classroom for me to study up on more dive theory. As you can tell, I was
way behind the “curve” on dive theory and I had lots of catching up to do.
Prep day three started with getting
into the pool right after breakfast so we put together our gear and practiced
rescuing each other as “unresponsive diver on the surface” with and without a
pocket mask to familiarize how each of our individual gear (jacket vs wing
BC’s) was configured. I had never taken off a wing from an unresponsive
diver before so it was interesting for me to see the different technique used
to slide the harness off and remove it from the diver (as opposed to unsnapping
plastic buckles in the jacket)…so after several practice runs, I became
proficient at taking it off. This eventually came in handy since I was
given the open water assignment of removing the wing during the rescue diver
section of the IE. Over the course of several hours, the four
candidates switched around as partners so that everybody was completely
familiar with each other’s gear and weight configuration.
Afterwards, it was back to practicing
demonstration quality water skills before breaking for lunch. The
afternoon was used to either work on dive theory or more time in the pool
depending on what each candidate felt they needed more time on since the
preparatory days was closing fast and the actual IDC
schedule officially started the next
morning. After dinner, I was back in the classroom reading and reviewing
course material (open water, advanced diver, rescue diver, dive master manuals)
or viewing videos of water skills presentations. This officially ended
the “easy” days of preparation for the actual IDC which was occurring over the
next 12 days followed directly by 2 days of the IE.
The first day of the IDC started at 8 a.m. We received our individual assignments
for both pool and open water skills that each of us had to demonstrate for the
duration of the IDC. Even though we were given the assignments ahead of
time, there was very little time to try and get ahead since you were so focused
on getting your slates ready for the upcoming presentations and also getting
your lectures together for the classroom presentations.
Once our assignments were given out, we
spent the rest of the morning going over the PADI General Standards and
Procedures with Tim giving us a teaching scenario and we had to look at the
PADI Instructor Manual figure out whether it was up to standards (or not)
regarding minimum ages, number of students in the course, course procedures…and
since it is an open book/computer section, we just had to familiarize ourselves
with finding the information as laid out in the Instructor Manual. It is
not something to memorize because the General Standards and Procedures manual
is essentially a “living” document that changes every year such that as an
instructor, you need to be able to quickly find out the relevant bits of
information for your course.
After lunch, we went on our 800 m swim
in the ocean in front of Los Pargos Rojos Diving and
afterwards, we listened to a presentation on the Open Water Diver Course.
After a short break, we were given the first exam on the Standards and I didn’t
get the minimum required 75% in order to pass after 1.5 hours of testing
time. Definitely a mental downer since you can only take this portion of
the IE once so if you don’t pass it the first time, you don’t pass the IE and
you don’t get your instructors rating. Once again, I was not feeling very
confident about passing both the IDC and IE and so I had a conversation with
Jim, Liquid’s general manager and he gave me a pep talk and said that just wait
till the end of the second day of the IDC because that is when things will
start making sense and clicking together. After dinner, I prepared my confined
water assignment that I had to perform the next day and I truly had serious
doubts about Jim’s advice when I finally crawled into bed later that evening.
At 8 a.m. on the second day of the IDC,
we spent several hours learning about the various aspects of Teaching in
Confined Water and this was followed up with Gabby and Tim evaluating
each of us in all 24 of the water skills. Apparently, I was paying
attention via direct observations and watching the skills video because I saw
my scores and there were some 5’s, 4’s, and 3’s so I passed all of the water
skills to the satisfaction of the course directors. This was definitely a
morale booster for me since I knew that I had passed but that I still needed to
work on the skills that I had gotten 3’s on. After a short break for
lunch, each of us presented our confined water skills assignment of which mine
was “Regulator Recovery” from the Open Water Diver course then it was on to the
Diving Theory exams. Since I had been studying the five sections that this
exam covered quite a bit over the past several days, I was very happy to learn
that I had passed all of the sections and that my lowest score was an 88%…so
all of the intensive studying had finally paid off!!! Needless to say, I
was a very “happy camper” when I went to dinner and my spirits and confidence
level was high. I also realized that what Jim had mentioned about things
making sense after the 2nd day of the IDC was true and so I was
able to start getting into the mental state of meeting every challenge and
assignment with a clearer understating of what was expected of me in order to
pass the IDC.
The IDC days three through nine were
pretty much the same in terms or content and format. Each day we listened
to various presentations by Tim and Gabby as well as the other two course
assistants, Ulrika and Rae, on such topics as formulating Knowledge Development
Presentations, Adventures in Diving, conducting Open Water Dives, Risk
Management, Rescue Diver and Divemaster courses, and the 4 E’s Workshops.
Each of us were assigned different specific classroom and pool or open water
assignments which we presented to each other and to the Course Directors; my
specific pool/open water assignments were:
- alternate air source ascent
- tie the following three knots: sheet bend, bowline, and two half hitches
- neutral buoyancy using LPI
- distance/time estimation swim
- mouth to mouth rescue breathing
- mask removal and replacement
- surfacing the unresponsive diver
- underarm tow of a tired diver
The four IE candidates would take turns
being the “Instructor”, “Divemaster”, and “Students”; as “Students” we were
assigned different mistakes that are common to that particular skill and the
“Instructor” (without prior knowledge of the “mistake”) has to identify the
“mistake” as it happens and immediately apply the appropriate correction.
Yes, it was a bit of role playing but that is how we learned from the mistakes
of each other. In contrast, my classroom assignments dealt with such
topics as explaining, using the PADI specific information available, the
concepts of:
- dealing with stress while diving
- heatstroke
- hyperthermia
- visibility underwater
Each of these exercises was meant to
not only prepare for the IE but also to improve and hone our presentation
skills since we are to become instructors and so must be able to effectively
explain and demonstrate to students, the various concepts and skills that are
required of them.
The last several days of the IDC was
devoted to the Emergency
First Response Instructor (EFRI) course.
This is required of all candidates as part of their IDC course; however; I did
not participate because I already had my teaching credentials for the Divers
Alert Network’s Instructor Development Course (First Aid) for Professional
Divers that I had taken last summer. Since both the PADI EFRI and DAN IDC
for Professional Divers were essentially equivalent courses, PADI accepted my
prior DAN coursework in lieu of the EFRI section of the IDC. Thus, while
my colleagues were in classroom sessions for another two days, I was using
these two “free” days to continue studying up on dive theory, standards, and
all relevant course skills (both confined and open water) in Atmosphere’s pool since that is where the actual IE was going to be
taking place. As well, some of my colleagues decided to keep going in
coursework to obtain some of their Specialty
Instructor ratings such as deep
diver, U/W naturalist, and nitrox so that they could teach these
specialties. They were able to go on course dives over the next of
several days which I was jealous of since I was in the classroom/pool
“studying” my heart out!
Needless to say, there were many
emotional “up” and “down” roller-coaster rides over the course of the
IDC. One of my classmates finally obtained the perfect score of 5 in one
of the water skills and that was fantastic! We also had many memorable
times, laughing at each other and with each other, the camaraderie was amazing
and we were fortunate to make lifelong friends by meeting via this IDC!
However, this was also balanced by the
fact that all of us, at one time or another, obtained the lowest possible
scores allowed, the dreaded “1”. I was ”fortunate” in that I received
only one of them but some of my colleagues obtained 2 if not 3 of the feared
“1” scores; there was even a time when three of us were given a “1” all at the
same time so that put a real damper on us. Fortunately, both Gabby and Tim decided to let us have a
“do-over” the next day doing the exact same skill or a new one and I went from
a “1” to a “4.4” since I elected to demonstrate the original assigned skill
set. If there is a silver lining for getting a score of “1”, it is that
you will never ever forget, as Gabby and
Tim told us, the particular critical attribute that you did wrong or
omitted for the rest of your career
as an instructor!
Finally the much anticipated two day IE
arrived. Our Examiner was Mark, who after introducing himself and going over
the “rules” of the IE, divided the IDC candidates into the “Red” and “Blue”
team since there were other IDC candidates that travelled from other parts of
the Philippines to participate in the IE. Fortunately, our core group of
4 was all assigned to the Red team which was very nice since we had been
practicing with and helping each other as well as being comfortable with each
other’s gear configurations.
Each of us were given our individual
assignments regarding Knowledge Development and confined/open water skills; at
10 a.m. the Red team was in the water and showing Mark five demonstration
quality circuit skills. After finished the circuit skills, the entire Red
team obtained a score of “5” from Mark so that was a great way to start the
IE!!! After lunch, we presented our specific Knowledge Development
presentation of which we literally only had 1.5 hours to prepare it from start
to finish. On my presentation, I received a “3.8” which was no surprise
since that was the score that I had consistently received from Gabby and Tim during the IDC.
Finally, at 3 p.m., the dive theory and General Standards and Procedues exams
were given to us (half of the group took the theory exam whereas the other half
did the GSP. After turning in the exams, Mark graded them immediately and
he told me I obtained an “88 %” on the GSP and “90+” on all five sections of
dive theory…so I was extremely happy with those scores since a minimum of “75%”
is required to pass! That ended the first day of the IDC; it started at 8
a.m. and finished at 8 p.m. for me. After dinner, I started making up the
slates for the Open Water Teaching Presentations that were due at 8 the
following morning.
At 8:30 of day 2 of the IE, each person
on the Red team gave their individual Open Water Teaching Presentation (mine
happened to be mask removal and replacement and neutral buoyancy – hovering)
that started out with shore-based briefings. This was immediately
followed by donning our gear and going out to the ocean and demonstrating to
Mark our presentation skills, followed by rescuing an unresponsive diver at the
surface. After stripping off our gear and getting dry, we finished the IE
by conducting the last mandatory skill of the day, the debriefing.
Afterwards, Mark asked which of us on the Red team wanted to be first to know
his/her overall evaluation and I immediately threw my arm in the air since I
wanted to know how I did as soon as possible! Needless to say, you
already know the outcome since the first paragraph of this article details the
conclusion of that evaluation!
Now, after all is said and done and I
have had some time to reflect on the prep days, the IDC, and the IE itself, I can unequivocally state that both the prep days
and IDC were definitely much harder than the actual IE! Nevertheless, I
would rather have it this way where the preparation is more difficult than the
actual exams than the other way around. Yes, the IE was stressful due to
fact that it was the “final exams” and that I needed to pass it in order to
obtain my instructor rating, especially since a substantial amount of cash had
either been already deposited or authorized via credit card charges for the
course, housing, and food (and that did not even include the round trip airline
tickets from the east coast of the US). Yes, both Gabby and Tim were very critical of how I/we conducted our skills;
however, in the overall scheme of things, it was in our best interests since
they pointed out every little detail that each of us had to work on in order to
make the necessary improvements for the next evolution. Having two course
directors gave us, the IDC candidates, two independent sets of eyes for
evaluation(s) and perspectives and I must give both of them all of the credit
for “pushing” me and my IDC cohorts to do better and improve. Ultimately,
the end result of all of this “pushing” over the course of the IDC was
that all four IDC candidates of the Red team (“Team Los Pargos Rojos”)
passed all sections of the IE and consequently are now newly minted PADI Open
Water Scuba Instructors!!!
To the Los Pargos Rojos staff of Gabby, Tim,
Rae, Ulrika, Zoe, and Jim, many thanks for believing in me when I had
doubts about my abilities…and to my compatriots Berlinda, Vida, and Dennis, I
will always have fond memories of our IDC and of each of you.
Is the IDC doable without any previous
studying for it? Yes, but be mentally prepared to lose sleep due to early a.m.
and/or late p.m. study sessions; would I recommend going into the IDC without
prior studying? No, not unless you are willing to give up plenty of sleep time
and study just about every free moment of the prep days and first 3-4 days of
the IDC. It definitely reminded me of college and graduate classes when
studying for all the exams during those formative years of my life.
And that’s how I became a PADI Open
Water Scuba Instructor.
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