No one wants to waste time and money taking continuing education classes that do not meet their needs. Even if the continuing education course you need to take is a requirement, and you had no choice but to take that particular continuing education class, it is still important to feel you are walking away from every continuing education experience with some kind of benefit.
At this point, you may be wondering how it could be possible to ensure that every single continuing education class you take is beneficial to you and your practice. Of course, there may be exceptions, but with a bit of careful forethought and planning, you should be able to gain quite a bit from the continuing education classes you take—even the ones you never would have selected if they were not requirements of some kind.
The way to gain the most from each continuing education experience is to hone in on the “careful forethought and planning” part. When the exact continuing education class you take is mandated as some kind of requirement, whether from your regional governing board or your employer, there are fewer variables to focus on, so this can make it easier to plan for a rewarding continuing education experience.
Probably the two most important components when it comes to achieving a rewarding continuing education experience are to keep an open mind and positive attitude. This is something to think about before the class begins, so you can commit to staying open and positive throughout the continuing education course. This applies to all kinds of continuing education, from the classes you choose to the ones you may be required to take.
By planning and committing to staying positive and keeping an open mind about your continuing education class, you may be able to gain the most from your class. Instead of zoning out by dwelling on all the tasks you could be getting done or thinking about the reasons why you do not like this particular continuing education class, you will be ready open and receiving any lessons, skills and connections that happen to come up during the course.
Of course, it is easy to be open and positive about continuing education when the class you are taking is one that makes you feel curious, enthusiastic and passionate. This is why, when you have the option of picking your own continuing education classes, you want to tune your forethought and planning toward choosing the continuing education course that you are excited to attend.
To choose such a continuing education class, it’s important to pay attention to and take note of what piques your interest in the field of massage therapy and bodywork. For example, you may find yourself reading an article about Healing Touch for cancer patients and feel like this is something you might like to do as well. Remember this thought the next time you are looking to enroll in a continuing education class, and you could find your career taking off in a whole new direction.