Continuing Dental Education, dream or reality

The constant quest for knowledge is an intrinsic characteristic of human and is a lifelong endeavor. The desire to acquire further information and expand one's horizon is greatly sought after. Health care providers, who epitomize career professionals, are certainly no exception to the rule. We are forever obliged to learn for the sake of being able to provide the best for our patients. Our field is a dynamic one and every day there is something new. Any laxity in continuing ones education will inevitably lead to undesirable consequences.

Adults seek Continuing Education (CE) courses for various reasons. There are three different motivational aspects that have been identified for the person attending a CE course; the goal-oriented learners who use education to accomplish objectives, secondly, the activity-oriented or social learners who take part in CE primarily for the social interaction and thirdly, learning-oriented people who seek knowledge for its own sake.

In other parts of the world, there exist organizations dedicated to the cause of Continuing Education. One such organization is the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) which is dedicated to the belief that lifelong learning contributes to human fulfillment and positive social change. Their objective is to envision a more humane world made possible by the diverse practice of their members in helping adults acquire the knowledge, skills, and values needed to lead productive and satisfying lives.

The Saudi Dental Society, since its inception, has recognized the importance of providing the professional dental community with an opportunity to benefit from such CE courses. During the last year alone, the Society and all affiliate Scientific Specialty Clubs provided a total of 66 scientific activities. These activities included the annual events, monthly meetings, scientific club meetings, workshops and CE courses. The total number of credit hours approved by the Saudi Council for Health Specialties exceeded 275 credit hours.

I am always impressed while giving or attending CE courses to see some clinicians who are in their senior years of their careers. To me, this only indicates a serious commitment to keep abreast of the cutting edge. Granted there may be other motivation to attend such courses such as mandatory credit hours for re-certification purposes. However, such cases are hopefully very limited in numbers.

With this in mind, it behooves all dental care professionals to adopt a certain positive outlook towards the concept of Continuing Education. I foresee a time when we would actually plan ahead for all the courses that we would wish to attend and enhance our knowledge and skills ahead of time. Furthermore and as a pre-requisite, organizations such as the Saudi Dental Society and the Saudi Council for Health Specialties should be prepared to publish such events in advance so that the intended audience is aware of such events. Finally, let us work hand in hand to make such a dream become a reality.

Esam Tashkandi, BDS, MS, FDS RCS, PhD
College of Dentistry of King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia