Episode #488: The Pathway to Bigger CE, with Dr. Steven Vorholt

If you're listening to this podcast, you already know the importance of continuing education. And today, Kirk Behrendt brings in Dr. Steven Vorholt, course instructor from The Pathway, to answer every dentist’s burning question: is bigger CE worth the bigger cost? He shares his journey to explain the benefits of big CE and the mistakes you should avoid as you get started. Start CE early and take it often! For more advice on choosing high-value CE, listen to Episode 488 of The Best Practices Show!

Episode Resources:

• Dr. Vorholt’s website: https://www.stevenvorholtdds.com/
• Dr. Vorholt’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vorholt
• Dr. Vorholt’s social media: @vorholtdds
• The Pathway courses: https://www.thepathway.com/courses/course-catalog
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Main Takeaways:

CE keeps you from stagnating.

Start big CE as early as possible.

Every successful dentist takes big CE.

Travel for CE to get into a different mindset.

Meet people — the pearls are after the course.

Quotes:

“You cannot do big CE until the office is running well. If you go out and learn something, and then you try to bring that into a ship that's already casting to one side, you're still losing water.” (4:19—4:30)

“When I look at the landscape of dentists that I consider my colleagues and that I want to be around, all of them have taken large continuum CEs, high-value and high-cost. And when you look at people who you might consider really successful in your own local area or maybe in your state, they’ve probably taken big CE. So, it’s not the people who are going to their state dental association to get their 40 hours checked off or doing stuff one webinar at a time to get 40 hours over the year, or the back of a magazine.” (10:17—10:52)

“I [got my 40 hours checked off] the first three years out of school because I thought that's what you did to keep your license active. And that's one of my biggest regrets was, looking back, that I didn't dive in sooner.” (10:53—11:03)

“I'll hear from a lot of young dentists, ‘How can I afford [CE]?’ I don't know if you can afford not to. You've got to think, a $20,000 CE — and there are companies out there that let you finance this stuff too. Like Proceed Finance, it’s a patient finance, will also finance dental CE for the dentist. And there are other companies. And most companies like The Pathway have payment plans and such like that. So, you can work it out on a monthly basis that's comfortable for you. But the jumping off the trampoline of that CE back at your practice is what really counts.” (11:04—11:40)

“When someone says, ‘Is it worth it to spend $20,000 on CE?’ The answer is, well, what's the CE? What's it going to give you? What's the return on investment? That's true with anything. Like, if someone were to say, ‘I'm going to spend $100,000 on X, Y, Z,’ but it’s going to make them a million dollars over the next five years, great. The money doesn't matter. It’s all about the return. So, if you're interested in doing something like implant dentistry, which is its own subspecialty, you need to have high-quality CE. You cannot dabble because the stuff, just to get set up for it, is at least $25,000 in motors, parts, pieces, and implants. So, if you're not also backing that up with really good training that's high-quality and has good follow-up and backup and whatnot, then you're just going to be flat on your feet.” (11:40—12:27)

“Until you get out and do some stuff, you really don't know what excites you. Dental school is such a weird little bubble. I liked the pediatric professors we had, and I liked the two weeks of experience I got in the pediatric clinic rotation. I thought, ‘Maybe I want to do that in my career.’ I had no idea. I get out and practice for five years and realize peds is my least favorite part of the whole thing. It would've been a nightmare if I got into this as a specialty.” (25:13—25:35)

“It has a lot to do with what you want in your career. Do you want your career to support your family life and what your priorities are? If you just want, ‘I want to work three to four days a week. I want to make a good living for my family. And I want to be in this town,’ well, you could do what is going to lead to that.” (25:47—26:02)

“You just can't do [CE] one hour at a time.” (37:28—37:30)

“One of the big downfalls when I moved to Scottsdale, I thought, ‘This is great. CE will come to me! I have Spear here. I have this. These conferences come here all the time.’ I don't go to them very often because, more often than not, I would feel guilty not being home. Or if I went to Spear, I wouldn't be the person who goes to the bar or the dinner afterwards with some of the attendees and learns all those pearls because I've got a wife and a kid at home, and I want to be with them. So, I still look, now, for travel CE experiences for that reason, to get in that mindset, because I think that is important.” (37:50—38:22)

“If it’s a big travel CE, meet people. After the course is where all the pearls are really learned. And get after it, because that's how you're going to get passionate, and that's how you're going to meet people. And the networking in these events is probably even more important than the material.” (38:24—38:40)

“You can do whatever your heart desires in this career. Do not feel locked in. Do not feel pigeonholed. Even if you just started a practice, there are ways to get out of it.” (42:19—42:29)

Snippets:

0:00 Introduction.

1:36 Dr. Vorholt’s background.

9:28 Is high-cost CE worth it?

13:09 Other values in attending CE.

18:57 The future and opportunity with implants.

24:16 Figure out what you want in your career.

28:04 The many options in dentistry.

31:43 How students transform with CE.

34:51 The impact of live courses.

37:03 Last thoughts on the path to bigger CE.

40:13 Dr. Vorholt’s courses and how to get in touch.

Links Mentioned in This Episode:

Proceed Finance: https://www.proceedfinance.com/

The Alan Mead Experience podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5IBO0VS2MTwxxcolO5IJEY  

The Clinical Hacks podcast: http://dentalhacks.com/podcasts/choose-your-own-adventure-with-dr-steven-vorholt-chp44

The Dental Hacks podcast: http://dentalhacks.com/podcasts/implants-done-right-with-dr-justin-moody-and-dr-steven-vorholt-dhp299

Dr. Steven Vorholt Bio:

Dr. Steven Vorholt was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and later moved to Columbus, Ohio, to attend college. He graduated with his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from The Ohio State University in 2013.

Shortly after graduation, Dr. Vorholt started a private practice in the Columbus area. Immersing himself in as much continuing education as possible, he eventually developed a great passion for dental implant surgery. After six years of building a successful general practice in Ohio, Dr. Vorholt followed his passion and moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, to take a full-time position with the New Horizon Dental Center and Implant Pathway. You will see him mentoring at most courses at the Tempe facility, and he also coordinates the follow-up and restorative care for all implant patients through the Implant Pathway program.