Course Overview
What: An international faculty of physicians and scientists specializing in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine has been assembled to present the 5th CSA Z275 Level 1 Introductory Course in Diving Medicine: Fitness to Dive. The current course schedule and faculty members will be updated shortly, but please view past examples of the schedule and faculty members located elsewhere on our website.
Where: The course will be held in Québec City, QC at the Québec Aquarium, 1675 Avenue des Hôtels, Ville de Québec, QC G1W 4S3. A small block of rooms has also been reserved at the very pleasant Hôtel Sépia, 3135 Chemin Saint-Louis, Ville de Québec, QC G1W 1R9 which is less than 500m walking distance to the Aquarium. A corporate discount has been secured and includes parking, a daily hot breakfast, and WiFi. If you are planning to stay there, we would recommend that you book early. Call (418) 653-4941 after August 1st and tell them that you are with the Undersea Medicine Canada diving medicine course. You can also visit their website at http://www.hotelsepia.ca
When: This 5-day course that will take place from 3-7 Oct 2022. The course has a maximum course load of 24 participants (subject to COVID safety protocols) and will include occupational tours and site visits. The complete course schedule will be posted shortly.
Prerequisites: A Physics Pre-Instruction Package (PIP) will be sent out to course participants at the time of registration. As there is not enough time to teach the entirety of diving physics and gas laws during the course, all participants must complete this diving physics package before the beginning of the course. It will be assumed that everyone will arrive on the course with knowledge of the package contents + practice questions. There will be a 1-hr review lesson the first morning of the course for any questions. No previous knowledge in diving medicine is required for the course, although many course participants dive recreationally.
Cost: The cost for this course will be $1,725.00 CDN, which includes 15% GST ($1500 for the course + $225.00 GST). All course materials, tours/site visits and transportation are included in the fees, as well as accreditation and CME credits (see below). Morning coffee break and snack, catered daily lunches and a Welcome Reception on the evening of 3 Oct 2022 are also included. The Welcome Reception will be held at the Quebec Aquarium immediately following Monday classes, and will include tasty little snacks!
Accreditation: Upon successful completion of this course, physicians will qualify as a CSA Z275.2-15 Level 1 Diving Medical Examiner and can have their name listed with the Diver Certification Board of Canada (DCBC) to conduct commercial diver medicals in Canada. All previous Level 1 courses have been accredited by the Canadian College of Family Physicians as a Group Learning Program qualifying for 35 MAINPRO+ CME credits. Once accreditation for the current course has been received, this website will be updated with the CCFP course ID number.
If you have any future questions, please contact Dr. Debbie Pestell at drdeb1@ns.sympatico.ca, or by phone at: (902) 225-8214. Finally, as all lectures will be provided to course participants on a USB data stick, it is strongly recommended that you bring a laptop computer with you for review and study purposes before the course exam. The exam will be held on Friday afternoon, the last day of the course, so please do not book flights home until after 18.00h on Fri, 7 Oct 2022.
COVID-19 Safety Protocols
It goes without saying that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed all of our lives forever. This is the 1st course since the beginning of the pandemic that we have been able to hold in person. Holding them virtually through Zoom has not been an option because as occupational medicine courses, 25% of the course content must be ‘hands-on’ (demonstrations, site visits, tours, small group presentations, etc.) Without the live/hands-on component, we would lose our accreditation and CME credits from the College. Although we cannot know what the fall will bring with respect to COVID and restrictions, there will almost certainly be increased cases +/- new variants given that the world is currently experiencing an outbreak of Omicron BA.5.
We cannot risk out an outbreak amongst course participants which would not only lead to cancellation of the rest of the course, but the risk that we would take COVID home to our families, patients and hospitals. As the start date of the Level 1 course approaches, we will follow whatever protocols are required by the Quebec Public Health Dept, as well as any additional steps that may be needed to keep everyone safe. This will likely mean rapid swabbing all course participants and faculty on Day 1 and 2 of the course, as well as masking in the classroom. While snacks and meals have historically been taken in the intimate dining area at the back of the class room, we may need to spread out a bit more this time around. More details will follow as we get closer to the course date.