4 good reasons you should be taking non-CE courses

"Learn something new every day" is the motto I subscribe to, "preach," and have tried to adhere to since graduating from dental school more than 30 years ago.

Of course, as dental people, the majority of the learning we do is derived from courses we take that offer continuing education (CE) credits -- and that makes complete sense for many reasons. To begin with, we are required to; plus, because most of the courses marketed to us give credits, why shouldn't we, especially if those courses are enriching us from a clinical perspective?

I began lecturing and presenting CE programs on a variety of topics back in the 1990s, usually in front of good-sized audiences at conferences. I'd have my suit and tie on, and it was fun, gratifying, and stressful all at once.

I then started to realize two things.

First, not everyone was as excited to be there listening to me as I was in presenting the material. Many were there because they "had to be there" or they just "needed the credits."

Second, much of the best learning experiences for me came from "the outside" -- certainly, when it came to business knowledge, skill building, and personal development. It was very important that I learned and continued to grow in those areas, whether as a practitioner, small business owner, and/or entrepreneur. I believe that most everyone in 2020 would agree that to be successful, there is a strong need for more than just clinical updates and techniques.

Years ago, before the internet, here in New York City, you couldn't go anywhere without seeing booklets and advertisements for a "school" called the Learning Annex, which offered a wide variety of courses on literally everything that might be of interest to anyone. I remember taking programs such as "How to write a winning business plan" and "How to talk to your cat."

I soon started to shift my speaking and teaching into programs for small groups (up to 12 at a time) of dental professionals and industry members. These were interactive and set in casual environments, essentially trading in the suit and tie and PowerPoints for jeans and writing on whiteboards. Days were filled with exercise-driven, hands-on, and conversational learning. I realized that people, especially in dental, will always want and, yes, pay for information, especially information they can't get just anywhere. They want information that simply helps them become more successful.

For many years now, I have offered three "dental-related" workshops, and I don't offer CE for any of them. Thousands of people from hundreds of companies and practices have taken them, and I'd be hard-pressed to find more than a tiny handful who would say they haven't gotten many times their money's worth. These programs are "How to sell your products or services to dental offices," "How to valuate dental practices (what is your practice worth?)," and "Beyond the operatory," which discusses nonclinical income stream options.

Why don't I offer CE for these programs? I'll explain below in these four reasons why you may want to consider taking some non-CE programs.

1. You are there to learn and so is everyone else

When people enroll in a non-CE program, they are truly there to learn about the topic. You don't get others "snoozing" around you or playing on their phones. When everyone in your course is engaged and alert, so are you!

2. There are no guidelines and no 'bias'

OK, this one is ironic. The pure nature of CE is that it should be informative and not "favor" a product or company in its content. Without trying to be controversial here, the truth is that because most CE courses are sponsored by companies, the speaker inevitably must make sure to mention the product or program of the sponsoring company more heavily. However, there are other guidelines for CE programs that can inhibit what is said.

Some of this is completely understandable, but sometimes you want to learn by hearing what needs to be said without any restrictions!

3. Some topics don't fall neatly into CE categories

Because of that, they are not featured prominently or are not addressed at all (even within a large conference's offerings).

4. There is so much CE out there

Surveys we've conducted through the Dental Sales Academy over the years have shown there is somewhat of an even split when it comes to CE. Either you "barely" get to the required number of credits or you get much more (2.5x) than what's needed. There are thousands of CE offerings ranging from free to thousands of dollars in cost and from one hour to several days in duration. This simply means that not everything you take has to quality for CE credits.

In addition to dental-specific, topic-focused, non-CE programs, there are many online learning institutions where you can take non-time-consuming (and usually very inexpensive) courses that can help you immensely in various areas of your personal and business life. I've taken programs such as "Tips on getting great results using LinkedIn" and "How to use Excel and Word more effectively" through companies such as Udemy, Udacity, and Coursera. If you aren't familiar with these companies, check them out.

"Learn something new every day." What will you learn today, tomorrow, next month, and later this year?

Anthony Stefanou, DMD, is a dentist of 32 years (nonpracticing) and a certified business intermediary (CBI). He is the managing partner and founder of Connect the Dents, a dental mergers and acquisitions and business development advisory company working with manufacturers, dealers, DSOs/practices, and the Dental Sales Academy. He can be reached at [email protected].

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