When is a good time to do your IDC Staff Instructor course ?

You are already a Scuba Instructor and considering taking the next step in your diving career by becoming an IDC Staff Instructor? Great idea! However, there are a few things to take into consideration before you decide to go ahead!

What is it?
The PADI IDC Staff Instructor rating will allow you to assist on teaching IDC’s. You will be allowed to run parts of the IDC independently and teach the instructors to be under the supervision of a Course Director. This is a big responsibility and this also requires a very good understanding of dive theory, PADI Standards and teaching diving in general.

In order to register for a PADI IDC Staff Instructor course, you will need to already be a PADI MSDT and an EFR Instructor.

Is it the right time?

I always recommend to students to have some experience under their (weight) belt before they consider taking an IDC Staff Instructor course. Keep in mind you will be teaching instructors to be, so it is important to have experienced teaching recreational courses for yourself; it is also usually very helpful to have experience in training Divemasters, as you already have an understanding of what professional training requires.
It is hard to put a timeframe on experience, if you work in a very busy dive shop or only on weekends you will not build experience at the same pace. Everyone is different and your confidence, teaching abilities and comfort will also be different from the next person.

What is the course like?
The common way (and that I personally recommend too!) is to do the course while following an entire IDC. Before the IDC itself, you will spend a couple of days with the Course Director in order to understand scoring, curriculum of the IDC, the course structure, etc. By sitting on an IDC straight after that, you can use all these tools and techniques and also get a good brush up on your skills, theory and standards knowledge. You will also get a chance to ask a lot of questions and debrief regularly with the staff in order to get more confident about your role as an IDC Staff Instructor.

Finally, after accompanying the IDC candidates for a couple of weeks, what a kick to be there when they take their IE, just like you did before!

So, is it the right time for you to become an IDC staff Instructor. Check out our programs HERE and email us to get more info