The concept of mandatory continuing
education for licensure continues to
be controversial issue in spite of its
worldwide acceptance and spread.
Although one can’t argue with the
basic philosophy behind this concept,
there have been many reasons given
for why the intended goals of such a
process are not universally attainable.
First and foremost is the fact that
one’s physical presence at a course
does not necessarily equate with
acquiring new knowledge or skills.
Moreover, even if one diligently
participates in a program, there is
no assurance that the content is such
that it will necessarily improve the
dental practitioner’s competence or
the quality of service he or she will
provide. In fact, there may be no
relationship between the courses in
which one participates and the areas
that same person needs to maintain
or improve his or her competence.
For a mandatory continuing education
program to be truly effective, it
must provide an accurate method of
determining an individual’s educational
needs, sufficient opportunities to
meet those needs, and a way of
determining whether those needs
have been met. Finally, there must
be means of quality control to ensure
that the available courses meet
appropriate educational standards
and provide accurate, current and
scientifically-based information. We
in Bahrain Dental Society have taken a
leading step by creating a high caliber
dental education program mixed with
medical input such as neuroscience
and otorhinolaryngology, besides
issuing dental newsletter. We have
designed a variety of different
programs to address the educational
needs of the members of our society.
These include the clinical training
courses, the scientific day with our
neighbor dental societies. These were
very successful events dictated by
the number of attendees. Moreover,
the newsletter will be the tip of the
iceberg for a formal journal. It is
designed in a way that it includes
large amount...