How did this journey start?
There is a voice in my head, and it always keeps whispering that “you are not good enough. You don’t know everything. You are not ready yet.” I am someone who has always believed in one uncompromising principle since the moment I stepped into dentistry: I can accept a day where I am not able to help even a single patient, but I will never accept a day where I am the reason even a single one is harmed. This voice kept growing throughout my undergraduate days; this voice exists inside my head even today. This need to quiet the voice made me start attending workshops, webinars, seminars, and CDE programs.
How did I benefit from it?
- I have attended many workshops and continuing education courses to date, and one thing I learned from the mentors and moderators of these courses is that what they included was not just clinical points from textbooks but their own mistakes, clinical experiences, and tips and hacks. These are some valuable lessons that no textbook can teach us.
- It helped me to network better with colleagues and seniors. Having meaningful conversations and forming bonds in any field is important, especially when you are a young graduate.
- It helped me learn about the recent advances happening in the field of dentistry, made me curious and inclined towards research, and helped me understand the space and scope for new innovations in dentistry since the limitations regarding treatments and devices are discussed in depth in such conferences.
Takeaway message:
After attending some 42+ CDE programs and workshops, what I understood is that dentistry is a vast ocean; one can truly never master it. There is always going to be something new, a variation in tooth anatomy, an unexpected nerve pathway, a unique case that would refuse to follow the textbooks, something that would make me pause. But what these additional learning experiences gave me is the strength to answer that voice in my head, not loudly or immediately, but softly, slowly, one learning at a time.
I am still learning something new every day, probably will be learning for the rest of my life, but these small increments will shape me into a better clinician, and that is something that motivates me to show up every day.
What is your take on CDE programs? Do you enjoy learning new things? Tell me something that you learned recently.
