ABSTRACT
To certify that a person is fit to be taught diving ideally implies that he is physically fit, medically healthy and psychologically stable. Humans are clearly not adapted naturally to dive; if they were they would possess gills. Yet recreational scuba diving is one of the fastest growing leisure sports, and medical practitioners are required by their patients to be capable of furnishing an opinion as to their medical fitness to dive. This chapter provides the medical practitioner with a basic synopsis of recreational diving medical standards.
