Warning: School Never Ends
I’m writing this blog post just before leaving for Midway Airport to fly to Dallas, TX for a continuing education weekend. As most of my patients know, I pick up and leave at least every 3 months for some type of class, seminar or convention focusing on chiropractic, physical therapy or sports medicine. In fact, I’m taking the sports medicine board examination next Thursday and Friday (wish me luck!). Booking two continuing education events back to back may have been a stupid move, but I’m sure I’ll survive.
You may be thinking that going to classes every 3 months may be excessive, but in the State of Illinois, all doctors (including chiropractic physicians) are required to take 150 hours of classroom time in order to renew our licenses every 3 years. That averages out to about 50 hours per year!
Some of my colleagues roll their eyes or complain about having to take continuing education, but I just think of it this way – - Continuing Education allows me to know the latest research, methods and techniques that are working for patients. The more information I know, the better outcomes my patients will have. I stopped counting hours or credits a few years ago and simply sign up for any class that I think will help me treat my patients more effectively. Since doing so, I have really seen some great results and mini-miracles on patient cases that had difficult-to-treat diagnosis.
No matter what profession or occupation that you are in, school never really ends. Take that class, read that book and enrich your mind!