Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Continuing Education
21 Plays4 months ago
About the Hosts:
Dr. Savanah Craig and Dr. Ronnetta Sartor are esteemed professionals in the field of dentistry. Dr. Craig, with her passion for continuing education and professional development, has embraced a multifaceted approach towards her practice, exploring surgical and implant courses post-graduation. Dr. Ronnetta Sartor, sharing a similar enthusiasm for learning, is recognized for her proactive role in furthering her expertise through various CE courses, and is now delving deeper with a mini-residency program to enhance her skills as a comprehensive care dentist. Not only do they practice dentistry with a keen interest in clinical application and patient care, but they also contribute significantly to peer education through platforms like IgniteDDS.
Episode Summary:
In this insightful episode of Beyond Graduation, hosts Dr. Savannah Craig and Dr. Ronnetta Sartor engage in an in-depth discussion about the critical role of Continuing Education (CE) in the dental profession. Their conversation reveals the evolving nature of CE, its impact on clinical practice, and strategies for integration despite financial and environmental constraints.
As the dialogue unfolds, Dr. Craig and Dr. Sartor reflect on their respective journeys with CE. Initially focused on cost-effective opportunities during residency and requiring employer support as associates, the doctors underscore the shift towards more comprehensive learning experiences as they advance in their careers. They candidly address the challenges and excitement associated with implementing new knowledge and protocols in practice, emphasizing the transformative potential of CE not only for personal growth but also for enhancing patient care.
Key Takeaways:
- The significance of Continuing Education evolves as dentists progress in their careers, shifting from cost-centric to comprehensive learning.
- Implementing new techniques and practices can be challenging, especially in the context of an associateship where philosophical alignment may not be guaranteed.
- Connecting CE to practice is crucial – learning is valuable, but application is what truly enhances patient care and practice profitability.
- Local study clubs and dental associations can provide accessible and sometimes free CE options, valuable for new dentists managing finances.
- Investing in oneself through CE is a strategy that pays dividends both in terms of professional expertise and tackling student loan debts.
Resources:
- IgniteDDS University : https://www.igniteddsuniversity.com/
- Business Masterminds: https://ignitedds.com/masterminds/
- Local Dental Associations for CE opportunities
- Dental Residency Guide and Beyond Graduation eBooks: https://ignitedds.com/ebooks/
Connect with Ronnetta Sartor: @dr_sartor
Connect with FutureDentists: @futuredentists
Connect with Future Dentists Beyond Graduation: @futuredentistsbeyondgraduation
Join us for the entire conversation on Beyond Graduation to delve further into the world of continuing education in dentistry. Explore the nuances of learning post-graduation and gather invaluable insights for your career growth from our expert guests. Don't miss out on future episodes for more thought-provoking discussions tailored for the dental community. Stay tuned!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Life Beyond Graduation
00:00:00
Speaker
Join Dr. Savannah Craig and Renetta Sartor as we navigate life beyond graduation. Real conversations about forging our own paths in our early years, in our careers. There's a reason it's called practicing dentistry.
00:00:16
Speaker
All right, welcome back to Beyond Graduation.
The Role of Continuing Education for Dentists
00:00:20
Speaker
This week, we are talking about a big topic, continuing education. All right, Renetta, what's your thoughts on CE? Oh, man, it's a huge topic. I think there's different levels to CE. I'm kind of CE junkie. So even as a dental student, anything where I could learn more so that I could be better for
00:00:44
Speaker
my patients and for myself just to like have a better understanding of anything, I would take those courses. I think through the years, the types of continuing education that I've taken has changed and evolved in the beginning, like saying residency, um, you know, you didn't have a whole lot of money. So whatever residency paid for in terms of continuing education is what I did.
00:01:11
Speaker
Yeah. Um, and then as I became an associate, I had a certain, um, allocation that it would give me each year for continuing education.
Learning from Practice and Feedback
00:01:22
Speaker
And I did what I could to maximize what they gave me in terms of, you know, costs. And then if there was something that I really, really wanted to learn, then I would pay for it within reason.
00:01:37
Speaker
For sure. In residency, I remember program directors pretty much saying that as you practice, you'll get to see more of your work and more of what worked and didn't work. And so as I got into the latter years of my associateship, I started to see cases come back and what
00:02:01
Speaker
maybe failed or maybe I didn't like how it looked or something like that or um I started to think okay well how could I make that better and you know so now pretty much I'm kind of at a place where I am investing in like more CE to kind of change the way that I look at dentistry and in practice before will be more so like okay this weekend I'm gonna go
00:02:32
Speaker
Learn about crown lengthening or something like that.
Advancing in Comprehensive Care through CE
00:02:35
Speaker
More like one off. Right. But now I'm looking more at, you know, many residencies and that sort of thing.
00:02:43
Speaker
Um, and it's teaching me to be a complete care dentist and look at everything, uh, which we learned that in school, looking at the health and how to impacts the teeth. But I think that's one thing cause we had that in our minds, but also relating that to the patient and learning more about occlusion and centric relation and all those things that are, um, you know,
00:03:12
Speaker
weird words that we learned in school. Um, but I've been very happy and very excited, um, with the new path that I'm on in terms of continuing education, because it's so much to learn.
Navigating Overwhelming CE Options
00:03:31
Speaker
And I feel like it is so much to learn that we could be in dental school for 10 years and still not know everything.
00:03:38
Speaker
Yeah, that's the problem of the whole thing is you got to have a baseline to get out of there, but there's still so much to learn. And like you said, I've not been practicing for very long, but even still, it's like, Oh, this is what they were trying to tell me in dental school, but I didn't understand until I've done some things like, Oh shoot, that does matter.
00:04:04
Speaker
for sure. What would you say your take on continuing education has been as like a newer dentist in the game? Yeah. I think I got really overwhelmed of like, I want to learn this and more about this and all of that stuff. And so I don't know if I've like jumped in
00:04:26
Speaker
too quickly and too deep into a bunch of different things. But I think that's part of being newer. And so I've just tried to take advantage of whatever's been
00:04:40
Speaker
put in front of me. My boss had some vouchers to go to Dentsply. I was like, that's free, I'll go. Then I've had the opportunity to take some more surgical and implant courses because those are things I really enjoy.
00:05:02
Speaker
Yeah, I think right now I'm on that like little topics here and there sort of CE in the things that interest me most or the things that like challenge me like I should probably take some more endo CE because I despise it. But yeah, so I think it's I think it's so interesting because you literally could spend every single weekend of your life taking more CE.
00:05:31
Speaker
And it can be really, really overwhelming. That's very, that's a very good point.
Challenges in Applying New Knowledge as an Associate
00:05:38
Speaker
Very good point. I think the part that becomes most overwhelming sometimes is, okay, I've learned all this great material, but how do I implement it? Yes. Yes. How do I go back to my office and if I'm an associate, how do I, you know, sell the owner doctor on this cool thing that I learned and I think it will make
00:06:02
Speaker
the office profitable, and even as an owner, how do I go back and incorporate this with my team? How do I train them on what I just learned to make sure that we could implement it in a very seamless fashion? Yeah, and get them excited about it.
Leveraging Local Study Clubs and Free CE
00:06:22
Speaker
I think one of the things that you and I both did while in residency is we took full advantage of
00:06:31
Speaker
local, continuing education, so local study clubs, or if you're a member of like whatever your state dental association is, a lot of times they'll have free, continuing education that you get with your membership. I know that the ADA and AGD and sometimes Panky and Dawson, they'll also
00:06:52
Speaker
in Spear and all of the big names, they'll have free continuing education as well. So I took full advantage of all those things like as a new dentist, especially as I was saving and trying to figure life out as a new dentist. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. And I think it's just.
00:07:13
Speaker
I don't know, I think it's all about mentality too, where I'm like, never hurts to have a refresher on this thing or whatever. And so that's been nice, like the Ignite University stuff is nice because they're short little videos on like specific topics where I'll be like,
00:07:31
Speaker
Oh, let me go back and review, again, it's always Endo, but let me review their Endo video where it's part of the fee for all of Ignite You and I can just look at these little topics and refresh myself because there's always things you forget. What I love about
00:07:52
Speaker
Ignite DDS is that we also have two types of continuing education.
Exploring Ignite DDS CE Platforms
00:07:58
Speaker
Yes. So we have the Ignite University, which is really cool because it has anything from, like you said, from photography and marketing to, you know, Endodontist talking about how to do endo and someone that places implants all the time. And it's like a little, little Netflix catalog catalog of just videos.
00:08:20
Speaker
and lots and tons of them and you could get continuing education hours for doing it in a privacy of your own home. Or, you know, if you're traveling and you want to listen to some continuing education, you can earn hours from that. And then from a business standpoint, and if you're an associate, maybe thinking about ownership, we have the
00:08:43
Speaker
business masterminds with Ignite EDS and that's been awesome. Um, you know, on the brink of deciding whether you want to be an associate, not an associate, if you want to no longer be an associate or, you know, or maybe you're trying to figure out if associate life is what is going to be what you do as your career. Um, the first part of the mastermind and helps
00:09:10
Speaker
figure those questions out. And the next part of it serves as a playbook for new dentists, new owners to help thrive in your dental practice. Yeah, I think that's the cool and overwhelming part about being a dentist is the different categories of CE that we can take. You can take the business CE, you can take the clinical CE, you can
00:09:36
Speaker
take the professional development CE, all of those things. So you've been doing big, big CE with Dawson.
Choosing CE Tracks and Mentor Influence
00:09:50
Speaker
How did you decide that it was time to do a bigger continuum and how did you decide which philosophy you wanted to get into? That's a very, very great question.
00:10:07
Speaker
Well, I went to MUSC, so it's kind of in the southern part of the lower part of the US. And I had lots of teachers in dental school that always talked about Dawson Academy. And then when COVID happened, Ignite EDS had their fast track program. And then the fast track program turned into a study club.
00:10:34
Speaker
and one of my mentors, and I think she's a mentor to you as well, but Dr. Shannon Johnson, she went to UF and she learned from Dawson himself and, you know, she would teach our study club and a lot of what she would teach was based on those principles and it
00:10:58
Speaker
just really resonated with me. So when I became a practice owner, I said, okay, well, I had the perfect opportunity to start a new and I have a new team and I can train them on new protocols of philosophies that will ultimately benefit our patient. And it's been pretty great. I have not graduated from the mini residency program yet, but I'm learning so much.
00:11:26
Speaker
Um, every week, every day, and I'm learning more and more and seeing more and more to be able to diagnosis overwhelming. Like you said, like once you start to like see things differently, your treatment plans become different. Um, and it's an exciting time because, you know, like you said, it's the practice of dentistry. So the way that I'm practicing has changed and.
00:11:55
Speaker
each year as I learn more and more, it's changing, which is ultimately what we want to do so that we can provide the best dentistry for our patients. Yeah. Do you think, um, do you wish you would have done it sooner or do you think, you know, you had to, had to practice for a while and like get your feet wet before you jumped into such a big
00:12:21
Speaker
I really wish I could have done it sooner. Um, yeah, I really, I really do. I think, um, just my mindset and you know, how I look at things, um, would be a lot further alone. But part of it too is like, um, I was in an associate ship and I think it's easier if you're in an associate ship where, um,
00:12:51
Speaker
The owner doctor or your company sees value in continuing education that can be pretty expensive.
00:13:00
Speaker
And so I knew that I would be on my own fronting that bill. And so part of it is just kind of knowing from a financial standpoint, when you can, cause a lot of, you know, a lot of the curriculums can be pretty pricey. So it's just timing. Bill's to pay. Especially with student loan debt being as high as it is. I know it's really hard for a lot of dentists out there.
Scaling Practices with CE
00:13:31
Speaker
But we're in such a great profession that attending these continuing education things can help us scale our practices in such a way that it helps us to attack that debt.
00:13:45
Speaker
a lot quicker than we would be able to if we were just doing fillings all day, which is nothing wrong with doing fillings all day. But if you know more, you know, you're tasked with doing more in informing your patients of what you see. An investment in, you know, yourself and your skills and all of those good things. Um, do you, do you think, um,
00:14:14
Speaker
So as a solo owner, you're able to bring in whatever philosophy you want. Do you think if you had had the financial resources to do it as an associate, it would have been difficult if you sort of bought into this really comprehensive philosophy and maybe the other people in your practice weren't
00:14:36
Speaker
Also trained at the same, you know what I mean? Can, can a Dawson and a Panky dentist practice in the same office or coise or spear or whatever? I think that's a great question. I think at the heart of everything, a lot of the principles are very similar and is achieving the same goal that patients experience in whole and complete health.
00:14:59
Speaker
And I do think some of the principles just inherit, inherently, you know, I, I had as an associate. Yeah. I think it brings up another point too, is that, you know, just because you're, you're an associate, you know, it's still your license on the line. Yes. It's still your morals and your values that you bring into the office every day. So I,
00:15:27
Speaker
You know, I think, and it's people that's in the many residency with me that are in associate ships and you know, maybe they're doctors that are in group practice with don't buy in, but it's easier to implement in the practice if you know someone there.
00:15:45
Speaker
you know, has taken a training and, and knows and all of those sorts of things. But, um, I think it's a very loaded question. And I think that it's very specific to the specific situation that you're in, but I believe wholeheartedly in like being yourself and staying true to your
Maintaining Personal Values in Practice
00:16:06
Speaker
values. And if it's a way that you want to practice and you think it's going to be to the best benefit of your patient,
00:16:13
Speaker
as an associate, you know, I know there are some constraints on there. It may be some constraints, but you know, do the best that you can to practice in that way. Because if it's going to make the case easier and simpler to do, then you know, there's no harm in it. Everyone wants that. And if your patient is happy at the end, that's all we want, right? Yeah, you did your job.
00:16:41
Speaker
Yeah, that's a that's a very great question because it hits on so many different points What's what's your take on it? Like as someone that might potentially be an associate and you know, take this sort of CE In the future. Yeah, I think it's It's it's cool because there's so many ways to practice dentistry and I think coming coming from residency where
00:17:11
Speaker
for the most part, we were all practicing the same or learning from the same faculty. So you were taught to do an extraction with this elevator and it was there because that was what you were taught to use. And so I think going into my associateship, there are times where I'm like, hey, where's this thing? And they're like, we don't have that. And I'm like,
00:17:36
Speaker
Ah, shoot. Like, you know, just like, I don't know, silly things that I just didn't think about because they were always there in residency because I was taught to use the things that were there. And so I think it was nice to work in like the same philosophy and it was the same philosophy because I was being taught by these people to buy into that philosophy. So it creates a,
00:18:05
Speaker
It's not a challenge, but it gives room for more interesting conversations when you have to meld these different philosophies. And not that I think my way of practicing is better and I'm very like open-minded. And that's why I like that I'm in group practice right now is to be like, oh, this is what I was taught to do, but what are you doing? And, um, but I could see,
00:18:36
Speaker
It's all a personality thing, too. I can see some people not being a huge fan that you're practicing in a way that's different from them in an associateship or in a group practice or a partnership. So I think it can be a way of learning and growing together. But I think it could also cause some tension depending on
00:19:03
Speaker
how opposed you are to the other person's way of practicing. You know, different doctors that, you know, may go and take continuing education at a lot of the different big name, yeah, continuation education. Cause like you said, it's, it's something that you can learn from each of them and you take what you want from it and mold it and bring it to your practice and do whatever you need to do to support your, your patient base as best as you can.
00:19:32
Speaker
That's a really good point,
Enriching Practices with Diverse CE
00:19:33
Speaker
yeah. It's not, you know, it's not like you're creating clones, like you're just taking this piece and putting it into how you practice.
00:19:44
Speaker
Yeah, and in group practices, this, you know, that's the beauty of it. Like, Dr. A, Dr. B, Dr. C, Dr. D, you know, you guys do things differently. And, you know, as long as the key goal is to keep the patient's best interest at heart, a lot of the other stuff can be worked out.
00:20:03
Speaker
for sure, for sure. And I think it's just like the residency mentality too of we had so many different people with different educational backgrounds. And that's the cool part of dentistry is there's always something to learn.
00:20:15
Speaker
And it's also the overwhelming part of dentistry. It is. It very much
Conclusion and Connection via Instagram
00:20:20
Speaker
is. And so guys, that's going to be it for today's episode. But if you guys are looking for convenient, continuing education, you can check out Ignite DDS's Ignite University as well as the business masterminds or just regular masterminds with Ignite DDS.
00:20:37
Speaker
If you want to connect with Savannah and I, you can catch us on Instagram. My Instagram handle is Dr. Underscore Sartor and Savannah's.
00:20:49
Speaker
Savannah Craig DDS. Thank you for joining us for this episode of Beyond Graduation. If you enjoyed this week's episode, be sure to share it with a friend. Connect with us on social media at Savannah Craig DDS and at Dr. Underscore Sartor and remember you are not alone on this journey.
00:21:11
Speaker
This episode was sponsored by the Dental Residency Guide and the Beyond Graduation eBooks. These eBooks can be found at IgniteDDS.com slash eBooks. Thank you so much for listening to Beyond Graduation brought to you by Ignite DDS Future Dentists.