Success with Your Specialty

As I’m packing up and getting ready to head out the World Massage Festival, a three-day massage education conference, I got to wondering about how people choose to get their Continuing Education. How do you choose what CE course to take? Price? Do you wait until you have to renew your license and take the most convenient course to fulfill your licensing requirements? Do you take a course because it just sounds like it would be cool to know? How about because it is on a cruise or tropical setting?

I believe planning your CE courses should be part of your business plan or long term goals plan. CE courses cost money, and like any other part of your career investments, they should help you succeed in your career. In business, it’s called a “Return on Investment” or ROI. If you are going to shell out $500 to $1,000 on a workshop and travel, how are you going to recoup that costs in your business? Will the skills or knowledge gained give you a competitive edge? Can it help you run your practice more efficiently and save money? The other side is, if you take a less expensive course online instead of going to a “hands on workshop,” can you gain the skills and knowledge necessary to achieve your goals?

I suggest that you look at your plans for the next 5 years and ask yourself what you need to learn to get you there? Balance it out. Everyone wants to learn a cool new technique, but you may also need to know how to set up insurance billing or how to marketing your practice, or something equally as boring. Don’t discount the need to stay excited about your work. Sometimes taking a course that revitalizes your interest is just as important as being able to make money with the skills. Plan out the courses way in advance, that way you won’t be in a panic when it comes time to renew your license. I always recommend that online courses be used for subjects that are more “book learning” or brushing up on skills and knowledge. For learning totally new hands on skills, nothing beats a workshop with an instructor there guiding you.