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Course Director
The Course Director rating denotes the highest instructor achievement in the System of diver education. To become a Course Director, you'll need to complete a Course Director Training program, during which you’ll learn how to conduct Instructor Development programs and gain experience in developing dive educators. As a Course Director you’re among the dive industry’s most influential opinion makers and play a critical role in shaping the attitudes and abilities of Instructors. You’ll serve as role model for other Members with respect to instruction, diver training and professionalism.

To apply for a Course Director Training program, you must:

1. Be a renewed, Teaching status Master Instructor for at least six months.
2. For at least 12 months prior to application have:

  • No verified quality assurance complaints.
  • Conducted all certification courses and experience courses using methods consistent with Standards and philosophy as outlined in the Instructor Manual.
  • Exclusively used the complete System of diver education including all appropriate training materials. Issued only certifications to students completing diver training.
  • (Exceptions are students referred from other certification organizations for completion of entry-level training, and specialty certifications issued for training activities outside the System of diver education.)
    3. Be certified as a IDC Staff Instructor.
    4. Have staffed at least two complete IDCs after certification as an IDC Staff Instructor since the implementation of the revised IDC curriculum (January 1996).
    5. Be certified as a current MEDIC FIRST AID® Instructor.
    6. Have conducted at least one MEDIC FIRST AID® program.
    7. Meet the minimum experience requirement of 250 logged dives.
    8. Have experience working with a Dive Center or Resort.
    9. Meet all other requirements as specified by at the time of application.

    (Note: Applications are not accepted unless all prerequisites have been met. Fulfillment of all prerequisites does not guarantee acceptance into the program. All applications are evaluated against rigid selection criteria and ranked within the pool of applicants. The top ranking applicants are accepted into the program.)

    Training and Certification

    Course Director Training programs are conducted by Office staff. The program has two phases, a training phase and an evaluation phase. You'll need to successfully complete both phases to be certified as Course Director.

    Duties of a course Director

    Beyond the responsibilities and duties you may already have as IDC Staff Instructor and Master Instructor, Teaching status Course Directors are authorized to:

    1. Conduct Instructor Development Courses (IDCs), Instructor Orientation Courses (IOCs) and IDC Staff Instructor Courses.
    2. Conduct Status Update and Open Water Scuba Instructor Upgrade programs.
    3. After successful completion of a MEDIC FIRST AID (MFA) Instructor Trainer program, conduct MFA Instructor courses.
    4. After certification as a Specialty Instructor Trainer, conduct Specialty Instructor Training programs.
    5. Observe Instructor Examinations (at the discretion of the Instructor Examiner.)

    • If you would look more info on upcoming classes, call or email us at rick@diveworldscuba.com. We look forward to hearing from you.