Putting away the books and never having to learn again...

I recently completed a six month course, actually it's still going, it may never end. The interesting thing about the cohort of dentists on the course was the range of ages and experience. And the nice thing was they were all NICE PEOPLE, which is not always the case.

I was certainly at the upper age, there were a few of us on the wrong (or right) side of fifty. There were also some young dentists at the start of their career.

There were dentists present who had vast experience and were delivering high end complex cases on a regular basis. There were dentists there that ran courses themselves.

What united us was our desire and commitment to learn, mutual respect and sharing of ideas and experiences.

Now dentistry, whether you're a dentist, a specialist or an OHT, could become humdrum and repetitive. It's tempting to stay in your comfort zone. Doing new things is scary.

Certainly there were a few of us on the course who were suffering from paralysis by analysis as our usual thought and treatment patterns were disrupted by the new material.

I am confident that everyone that completed this course will go back to the practice and implement what they have learned. That's not always the case with CPD is it?

It can be tempting to stick to what you know. If it's too long between attending the course and implementing a new technique then often we remain “stuck in our ways”.

What new thing are you going to try this week that will improve your patient care?

Here’s something similar I wrote a while back

Oh and this was the course

Ok, thats all for now

Feel free to share if you think a friend or colleague may enjoy this

Rosie