Entry & progression
Master <500 GT (Yachts) requires medical care on board ship — STCW Code A-VI/4, paragraphs 4–6. Not medical first aid, which is paragraphs 1–3 and belongs to the Chief Mate. This is the higher competence, and it exists because you are the highest medical authority aboard.
Which course, one more time
| Certificate | Medical requirement |
|---|---|
| Watchkeeper Deck <3000 (Yachts) | Neither |
| Chief Mate <3000 (Yachts) | Medical first aid (A-VI/4 paras 1–3) |
| Master <500 (Yachts) | Medical care on board ship (A-VI/4 paras 4–6) |
| Master <3000 (Yachts) | Medical care on board ship (A-VI/4 paras 4–6) |
People book the wrong one. It costs them a course, a week and an application cycle.
What the competence covers
- Provision of medical care to the sick and injured while they remain on board — which is the phrase that changes everything. Not stabilise and hand over. Care, over days.
- Structured assessment: history, examination, observations, a working diagnosis, and a record of all of it, timed.
- Participation in coordinated schemes for medical assistance to ships — obtaining radio medical advice and acting on it.
- Management of the medical locker, controlled drugs, and the medical guide.
- Preparation for a casualty evacuation, including by helicopter.
Radio medical advice
You are not expected to diagnose. You are expected to describe accurately and follow instructions precisely. The doctor at the other end cannot see the patient; everything they have, you gave them.
Before you make the call
- Take and write down the observations: pulse, respiration, blood pressure, temperature, level of consciousness.
- Take a history: what happened, when, what has changed, what they take, what they are allergic to.
- Examine, and write down what you found — including what you did not find.
- Note everything already administered, and at what time.
- Have the vessel's position, next port, ETA and evacuation options in front of you.
- Then call — and write down exactly what you are told, and read it back.
TIP — Record the time of everything Every observation, every dose, every change, every call. A patient's condition is a trend, not a snapshot, and the trend is the single most useful thing you can give the doctor. "Pulse 110" is nearly worthless. "Pulse 88 at 0400, 96 at 0600, 110 at 0800" is a diagnosis forming.
The limits of the role
You are the master. You are not a clinician and you must not pretend to be one. Your job is to keep the patient alive and stable, to get expert advice, to act on it, and to decide whether the vessel diverts — which is a master's decision, not a doctor's.
The failure mode is delay. Nobody wants to abandon a charter, wake an owner, divert 300 miles or call a helicopter for what might be nothing. Call early. The advice is free and the divert can be cancelled. A casualty that dies while the master was waiting to see if it improved is the worst thing in this profession.