The diver medical questionnaire: when do you need a doctor's sign-off?

It's the standard screening form used by PADI and other training agencies. It replaced the older RSTC medical statement in June 2020 and was developed by the Diver Medical Screen Committee with the Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) Diving Committee, Divers Alert Network and the Hyperbaric Medicine Division at the University of California, San Diego.

• Page 1 — 10 questions. All 'no' answers mean the form does not require a medical evaluation; consult a doctor about any other fitness concerns.
• A 'yes' to question 3, 5 or 10 requires medical evaluation directly. Other 'yes' answers direct you to the relevant boxes A–G on page 2.
• A 'yes' to any question on page 2 requires medical evaluation. Take all three pages to your medical examiner before diving.

The system has three parts: the participant questionnaire, the physician's evaluation form, and a guidance document that helps the doctor relate medical conditions to diving.

Download the form before your holiday, take all of it to your doctor — ideally one familiar with diving medicine — and bring the signed evaluation with you. Doctors in your home country know your history best, and it saves you losing a course day in Hurghada.

The questions exist because certain conditions change how your body copes with pressure, exertion and breathing compressed air. The form is designed to catch the higher-risk situations without sending everyone else to a doctor unnecessarily.