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10 Things Your Dentist By WILLIAM MAULDIN AOL: 8. "I'm a big fan of continuing education -- especially when it means a weekend in Vegas!"As new technology emerges, the dental industry must keep up, which is why 45 state boards require dentists to undergo continuing education, usually 20 hours a year. The problem is that only 10 states specify a minimum number of hours of hands-on clinical study. Dr. JPM: This might seem to be a problem, but not much changes in terms of the basics. How many states require proof that you are still able to drive your car before they renew your registration? Dentists are creatures of habit, as was said earlier. Like any learned and repeated skill, it's just not that difficult once you know what you're doing. We do the same thing on different teeth, all day long. If we wish to offer a new procedure, we have ample opportunity to attend multiple continuing education courses. Those course are generally held in desirable locations, too! We like to bring our families and make a vacation out of it. AOL: What's more, continuing-ed for dentists is regularly held on cruise ships and in such scholarly hubs as Las Vegas, where attendance at the for-profit Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies has tripled over the past eight years, and Costa Rica, where the University of Florida has recently begun offering courses. "Dentists like to bring their family and make a vacation out of it," says Lindy McCollum-Brounley, communications director for the university's College of Dentistry. Dr. JPM: Yes, that's right. Was there a question or concern here? Maybe I'm just being too sensitive, but I feel that if all the AOL computer geeks can have their big conventions in Vegas (can you say "Comdex"?), we dentist geeks can too. Would this point have been made if we chose crappy locations for our conventions? AOL: The latest trend in continuing-ed, online courses are sometimes conducted without approval from the ADA. These classes may be run with little or no instructor supervision, nor do they answer to state dental boards. A study of the issue in The Journal of the American Dental Association recommends that states begin monitoring online coursework to make sure dentists are actually called upon to learn something. Dr. JPM: The built in safety mechanisms pre-empt this potential problem. Only a certain number of on-line credit hours 'count' towards your mandatory continuing education in New York, and those courses have to be pre-approved for credit. The rest of the credit hours need to be attained in person, and the course needs to be pre-sanctioned in order to count towards your requirements. By the way, course work which counts towards mandatory continuing education is sanctioned in the exact same manner whether it is on a cruise ship or in some boring hotel convention hall.
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