Essentials of Diving Medicine

Welcome to the Essentials of Diving Medicine Program, by International Divers Alert Network, developed and presented by Dr Frans Cronje.

The goal of this program is to provide medical practitioners with essential, relevant medical and scientific background information for the purpose of clinical decision-making in the case of recreational diving fitness assessments or when needing to manage diving-related injuries or accidents.

The program is designed to accommodate the needs of medical practitioners who may be less familiar with diving medicine, as well as more experienced practitioners who would like to refresh their existing skillset.

The EDM program consists of several presentations; each of these is a stand-alone topic that may be viewed individually to highlight a particular area, as the need arises. They may also be viewed collectively to achieve an overview of the full spectrum of diving medicine.

Please note that this program is not an alternative to formal training in diving medicine. It also does not qualify doctors to examine professional or commercial divers for fitness to dive assessments. Instead it should be considered an important first step towards obtaining formal training and accreditation in diving medicine.

Upon completion of the EDM program , medical practitioners are invited to consider enrolling in the Recreational Diving Medicine program, which – upon completion - leads to certification as a Recreational Diving Medical Practitioner.

The material presented in this program is designed to complement existing training programs in diving medicine, whilst emphasising those aspects of diving medicine most essential for medical practitioners who happen to see an injured diver, occasionally, or receive requests for fitness assessment of recreational divers, or who have a basic interest in diving medicine but are not able or interested in enrolling in a formal diving medicine program.

For more information on the various diving medicine training programs and on how you may partner with Divers Alert Network, please visit https://www.dansa.org/physician-network.