What is a Diving Medicine Physician (DMP)?

The European Committee for Hyperbaric Medicine (ECHM) and the European Diving Technology Committee (EDTC) have established (European) guidelines that training programs for diving medicine physicians must meet. The DMP is competent to perform the initial and all other assessments of occupational and recreational divers or employees working with compressed air. A DMP can manage diving accidents and provide advice to diving contractors and others on diving medicine and physiology (with the support of a diving medical expert or consultant). A DMP must have knowledge of relevant aspects of occupational health. He or she does not need to be a certified specialist in occupational medicine to meet the Standards (EDTC-ECHM educational and training standards for physicians in diving and hyperbaric medicine, 2011), but knowledge of occupational medicine  is recommended. A DMP must  have certified skills and basic practical experience in the assessment of fitness to dive, management of diving accidents, safety planning for professional diving operations, advanced life support and acute trauma care as well as general wound care.

DMP Training

The European College of Baromedicine (ECB),  the registration committee of the ECHM, accredits the Diving Medicine Physician (DMP) course. The NVD (=Dutch Society of Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine, DSDHM/NVD) establishes a curriculum for the DMP based on the ECHM/EDTC/DMAC model. Application for accreditation of this DMP course by the ECB is ongoing.

How is the NVD-DMP course structured?

The DMP course exists of 9 accredited interactive webinars of 4 hours and a practical training of in total 3 days. After each webinar MC Questions will be send to the participants;  when 70 % or more of the questions have been answered correctly, a certificate will be issued.
The practical training will be held at the Department of Hyperbaric Medicine at the  UMC Amsterdam (Amsterdam UMC Locatie AMC – Duiken in het ziekenhuis), and BC opleidingen  (Centre for the Training of Professional Diving) at Enkhuizen (BC-opleidingen – Centrum voor Beroepsduiken). After the practical training, there will be a final examen existing of MC Questions. The DMP certificate  will be issued when the participant  has completed the whole DMP curriculum and successfully has passed the final examen.
All presentations, MC questions and exams will be in the English language.

When does the NVD-DMP course take place?

The dates for the DMP webinars in 2026:
Saturday October 17, November 7 and December 12.
The dates for the DMP webinars in 2027:
Saturday January 16, February 27,  March 20, April 17, May 22  and June 12.
The Webinars will be scheduled  from 9am till 1:30 pm CET (with 2x 15 minutes intermission) unless mentioned otherwise. The practical training  is scheduled for November 4-6, 2027.  Dates and times may be subject to change.
The registration will start on August 17, 2026. 

Who is the faculty?

The faculty exists of a distinguished group experts in the field from the Netherlands, Europe and New Zealand. Names will be made available later on.  Prof. dr. Rob van Hulst, MD, PhD, retired professor at the Department of Anaesthesiology, Hyperbaric Medicine branch, of the AmsterdamUMC, location AMC is the course director.

Who can join the NVD-DMP course?

For participation in the NVD-DMP course, a MED (Medical Examiner of Divers) certificate is required, valid at the date of signing in to the course. For participants in the practical training, a dive medical certificate stating that the participant is fit to dive is required of < 1 year before the practical training. There is a maximum of 20 participants. The course will take place when there is a minimum of 15 participants.

Costs

Cost of the DMP course (all webinars and practical part) will be € 2.495 to be paid in total in advance. The webinars may also be attended by non-participants in the course. Price per webinar will be € 225.
In  case the course doesn’t go ahead, there will be a total refund. If the course will take place will be announced in due time, at the latest on September 27, 2026, but earlier when the required number of participants has been reached before that date.

Costs for accommodation during the practical part in AmsterdamUMC and Enkhuizen are the participant’s responsibility. Costs for transport to Amsterdam are the participant’s responsibility. Costs for catering and transport between Amsterdam and Enkhuizen are included in the price.

Accreditation, Certificates of attendance, PME points

Accreditation will be applied for for general practitioners, occupational physicians,
sports physicians and all (other) medical specialisms and PME points will be automatically added to the GAIA file (for Dutch physicians). Each webinar will be accredited for 4 hours, the practical  part will be accredited for max 16 hours.
A certificate of attendance for a webinar will be issued after 70 % or more of MC questions have been answered correctly, and PME  points will be automatically added to the GAIA file (for Dutch physicians).

The NVD-HMP Course

After the DMP course, a HMP (Hyperbaric Medicine Physician) course will be organised with 2 or 3 interactive webinars  and an internship at a Hyperbaric Chamber for DMP certified physicians. For the latter any existing work experience in the hyperbaric chamber also will be considered. Further information will follow.

Further information

For more information, contact the NVD’s office.