As a qualified dental professional, you will appreciate the need to continue learning throughout your career. This isn’t important just for the sake of GDC revalidation – it’s also essential to maintain clinical standards, and ensure you provide the best level of care for your patients.
No matter your CPD training requirements, it is important that you find a training provider that offers learning solutions that are flexible, and fit with your busy working schedule. Many providers will be limited in offering just one type of training, however many of the best providers will have a range of options to meet your every need.
Face-to-face options
One increasingly popular solution comes in the form of off-site training. This extremely cost-effective approach brings together dental practice teams at a central location for an intensive day of CORE CPD training. These will often include hands-on practical sessions, and can be a great way of team-building as they bring together all members of the practice to share in learning and role-play activities.
If off-site training isn’t convenient then many training providers will also offer on-site training that can take place at your practice. This can be particularly useful if you are unable to give up a whole day to training, or if it is inconvenient for your team to travel. Many practice teams find this type of training especially useful for the fact that training can be tailored directly to the practice environment. For example with Infection Control training, there might be questions or issues pertaining to your specific practice setting that the training instructor will be able to address.
Learning online
Beyond face-to-face options, one type of training that has seen a massive boom in recent years has been in the form of online learning, also known as e-learning. This is perhaps the most flexible of all training options, and lets you learn at a time and location that is convenient to you. Not only that, but many e-learning platforms will offer a wide range of learning modules which you can choose from, so you can tailor your learning to areas of particular interest to you.
As a further benefit a number of e-learning providers now offer a ‘Personal Development Plan’ (PDP) as part of their package. This allows users to tailor their CPD training like never before, improving on weaknesses, building strengths and adopting a reflective approach to learning outcomes. Not only that, but many of the best e-learning platforms will also include a CPD tracking element so you can always keep an accurate log of CPD completed, and what you yet need to do to complete your cycle.
Learning need not be a chore
To make the most of your CPD, you should always look to invest in providers that offer the very best quality of learning content. In order to ensure your learning is truly effective – that your training ‘sinks in’ – you should also consider the way your training is delivered.
While many providers will claim to offer high quality CPD content, few can claim to offer a high standard of delivery that is both informative and engaging. After all, if you aren’t engaged with your learning – if the presenter is boring, or unenthusiastic – then you won’t be getting the most you can get out of your training.
In terms of online training, you should also consider the variety of learning materials on offer. The best providers will include a diverse range of content to help you learn that will extend beyond just written articles to also encompass videos, webinars, audio recordings and other interactive elements as well.
All this goes to show us how it isn’t just the content that matters – it’s also the presentation!
Quality control
While there are certainly many different training providers out there, few offer the breadth and diversity of content that is offered by many of the most established names. By choosing a high quality learning provider with many years of experience in dentistry, you can be sure your training will be flexible, relevant, informative, and engaging.
At dbg we really are passionate about helping you meet your CPD requirements, and continue to expand your learning throughout your career. Whether you are new to the profession, nearing retirement, or anywhere in-between, we believe we offer a comprehensive range of training courses and learning options to meet your every need. To find out more, why not give our team a call today, and find out for yourself just how we can offer you the complete training solution, and so much more besides.
For more information call dbg on 01606 861 950,
Or visit www.thedbg.co.uk