Today I heard a dental assistant say she would really love to attend more CE and keep learning. I always love to hear someone ask to keep learning don’t you? The more we learn, the more we flourish- personally and professionally. One technique a doctor I work with used is to have the interested team member write up a short summary of why they’d like to attend a course and what they think they’d learn from it…

This technique forever changed the way I looked at CE seminars and programs. My mind shifted from “Wow, Florida will be a great conference location” to “Why do I REALLY want to attend this course and how will I use what I learn day-to-day.” Writing up pre-conference summaries committed me to learn the most I could, and to bring nuggets back to the office to implement and share.

So, the next time your team member asks if she can attend a course, first thank them for their interest and then ask them to write up their “Why and how” summary. It will positively change their perspective and your practice will benefit more from the investment.

How often does your team ask to attend CE?

Have you decided against attending a seminar or CE course because you “already know what the course is going to cover?” I’m guilty of this myself… reviewing a program schedule and thinking, “I already know all this stuff”. That is until recently when I learned that most adult learners will likely retain – at best- about 75% of what they’re taught. In fact, if you sat in a class and just listened to a speaker talk, you might only retain about 10%. Take notes during class and you may retain about 50%. Get involved in discussion and actively participate in the course and your learning potential increases.

Recently I attended a course where an attendee told the speaker she liked the analogies he used this time versus the way he explained things in a previous class. The speaker chuckled and said, “I haven’t changed my material. You’ve just changed the way you are listening today.” Experiencing material from a different speaker, presentation format, venue or state of mind allows you to learn something new or different. The one nugget you need to know about business, marketing, leadership or clinical skills could be discovered when you give life-long learning a chance.