You state "If you have the time (and budget) going along the Oracle Certified Master training path is an excellent long term goal."

I don't disagree in principle, but it has been my experience that most people who achieve Oracle certification at any level are able to do so only because their employers are willing to pay for the mandatory training. Compared to other professional certifications, Oracle is easily among the most (if not the most) expensive to achieve and maintain over time. I personally haven't been able to afford it since Oracle 7 (before Oracle took over its own training and certification) even as a long-term goal, and neither has any company I have ever worked for (some of which were, in fact, quite large). It isn't even just the cost of the training classes: travel is often required to attend mandatory classroom training, and absence from work.

I'm not necessarily disputing the completeness or the importance of the training, but the cost is very limiting for DBAs who work for smaller companies with little or no training budget, or even larger companies with little or no profit margin. While anyone can (and should) take every opportunity to self-educate in the ways you describe, what meaning does an actual Oracle certification carry in the professional community if it is only realistically available to those who work for the largest major/profitable corporations or the ones with the rare foresight to provide above average training benefits? When a steadily increasing percentage of job opportunities require that certification, what do you recommend as a practical alternative for what I believe are the majority of highly skilled DBAs who do not currently and may never have access to those resources?