Hands-on Courses, Broadcast Live Online. THIS is the Future of Dental Continuing Education

Thanks to advancements in digital technologies and our easy access to high-speed internet, new types of education formats have emerged which engage learners in increasingly interactive and collaborative ways. As a dental professional, the volume of fresh and relevant product and technique information available to you online is growing exponentially, and chances are, you’ve already tapped into it. Pre-built courses, webinars and recordings of lectures are available on-demand for CE credits, and YouTube has many hours of dental-related video spanning a wide range of topics from building your practice with teeth whitening to complex composite layering techniques.

Leading the way in the dental continuing education sector, Clinical Research Dental has partnered with Clinician’s Choice to deliver an entirely new kind of dental education called Hands-OnLine LIVE. Leveraging many years of experience as a premier education partner to Canadian dentists—CRD has hosted many hundreds of live lectures and hands-on courses across the country—the team understands that dentists enjoy “learning by doing” more than anything else. In developing the format for Hands-OnLine LIVE courses, that aspect was important to retain, so much so, that each course was planned with a specific hands-on exercise that the participant completes alongside the instructor. Just as valuable to the experience is the real-time feature: all courses are live events—not pre-recorded webinars—and can be as interactive as each group makes it.

For the Hands-OnLive LIVE participants, this combination of access to a live instructor and a well-planned hands-on exercise is critical to making the learning experience effective, and very different than the other types of dental CE programming currently available. 

Dr. Robert Margeas, the first instructor to develop a course for Hands-OnLine LIVE, was instrumental in testing its success. As a practitioner and dental lecturer for over 30 years, Dr. Margeas says that the interactive format works well for both parties: he is able to deliver the case presentation, lead the hands-on exercise and also answer questions and address any issues that participants have over the two hours the course runs. Dr. Margeas has reported positive feedback from participants, and believes they’ve appreciated that he’s been fully available to them as they take the course. What’s also important is that, because the courses are delivered completely online, the participants can take the courses in their individual operatory where they can utilize their own equipment in a familiar environment. For some, the convenience of not having to travel to attend a lecture is also beneficial in terms of cost savings and minimizing time away from their businesses. 

This January, the Hands-OnLine LIVE course offering expanded from two Dr. Margeas-led courses to a total of four courses with the introduction of topics from Dr. Marc Geissberger and Dr. David Chan – and will continue to grow over time. “As soon as we launched the first course with Dr. Margeas, we had over a dozen dental educators reach out in the first week and ask if they could develop courses for us,” says Peter Jordan, president of Clinician’s Choice. “The hands-on exercise requirement takes some time to develop with each instructor, and getting that right is so important to us.” Each course has its own Technique Kit that’s designed specifically by the instructor with all the materials a participant will need in order to complete each hands-on exercise, including a comprehensive technique guide, model, instruments, restorative materials and accessories.

Dr. Danièle Larose, a dental educator and clinician from St-Laurent, QC took one of Dr. Margeas’ first Hands-OnLine LIVE courses and said afterwards, “I thought the concept of getting everything you need to perform the technique in your operatory was quite interesting and motivating. Getting to keep the items in the Technique Kit is brilliant as I’ll have the opportunity to try it all again the next day!” 

For many, Hands-OnLine LIVE represents the future of dental continuing education where in-person course offerings can be supplemented with quality online learning, delivered in a way that’s more convenient, interactive and accessible than ever before. After taking a Hands-OnLine course, Dr. Chad Duplantis from Fort Worth, TX said, “The Hands-OnLine LIVE format is the perfect addition to CE”, and Dr. Michael Miyasaki from Sacramento, CA agrees. “This course saved me money and will make me money, all of which makes these courses an exceptional value. I will find it hard to take another ‘just watch and listen’ webinar course again.” - Dr. Michael Miyasaki