Adam Lueken
With the healthcare industry frequently changing, keeping up with new technologies, treatments, regulations, etc. is important for doctors and team members. Taking advantage of continuing education (CE) is a great way to do this. With 2024 just days away, consider seeking out these opportunities for you and your team in the new year.
The Importance of Continuing Education
Continuing education credits are required for many different clinical professions. Each state has different CE requirements for healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses and even social workers, to remain licensed.
With constant changes in healthcare, CE courses are crucial for clinical professionals to stay licensed, but also stay informed and knowledgeable. For you as a physician and your team members, courses help you provide world-class care and discover new ways to advance your careers. Specifically, CE is beneficial for:
Advancing Patient Care: New medications, techniques, treatments and technologies are constantly on the horizon in dermatology. The right CE will help keep you on the cutting edge of patient care. That way, your patients will constantly have access to a high level of care. Plus, you can keep up with competitors (or set yourself apart entirely).
Discovering Practice and Career Growth: By gaining more skills and knowledge, you and your team can expand the services you offer, as well as pursue other interests and areas relevant to your career goals.
Maintaining Licensure and Certification: For many clinical professionals, employers and boards require ongoing education to remain eligible to provide care. For example, physician assistants in Illinois must complete 50 hours of continuing education for their 2024 license renewal.
CE Credits and How to Earn Them
There are several ways to go about obtaining continuing education credits. Live and in-person conferences and seminars are still common in many areas. Most of these offer CE credit for attending. Nowadays, there is also an abundance of online courses, webinars, etc. that offer CE.
Online education (or e-learning) has become a much more efficient and convenient way to earn CE. With a busy practice schedule, it can be challenging to find time to attend offsite courses yourself or send team members out of the practice for hours or even days to do so. E-learning makes it much easier to gain new knowledge and new credits from the comfort of home, your office or wherever, without the added time needed for traveling elsewhere. In many instances, online options are much more cost-effective for your budget too.
In addition, continuing education with e-learning can hold your interest more with enhanced video and interactive elements. Many courses can be paused and continued as needed, or repeated if reviewing the content is needed. Some evidence also suggests that e-learning can be more effective because viewers gain knowledge and skills faster with online methods as opposed to traditional instructor-based options – which means improved motivation and performance.
If CE is an ongoing practice goal, we can help you make it a reality. Schedule a consultation with one of our practice management experts today!