Getting Organized for 2020

The new year is almost here! And with the new year, new goals. Is one of your goals keeping up with your continuing education classes, getting them finished before the last week of your renewal deadline, or having them organized to make finding what you’ve taken easier?

I try to stay up on organizing my CE credits throughout the year to keep my CV updated and if I ever get audited (knock on wood), it’ll be easier to track everything down. There are some amazing CE tracking apps on the market, but using a regular old document works great too, and what I’ve been utilizing the last few years. Keeping all the information online makes searching for needed information quick and easy.

I organize my CE credits on Google Docs. Having the information on a cloud service makes sure I won’t lose all my information if something happens to my computer, and lets me access it from any place if needed. You never know if you’ll need to find out if your attended a pharmacology class this renewal cycle last minute, right? I’ve been able to share this document with my work as well to highlight how many additional classes I’ve been taking over the year.

So, as soon as I take a class, I’ll update the document with all the important information- date, number of continuing credits, Speaker name, sponsors, etc. Each state is a little different, so I would recommend looking into exactly what your state needs for proof of continuing education credit. Honestly, sometimes I’ll update the document during the lecture at a break or a slow time during the class. Then, I’ll hang onto the physical CE paper and file it in a file folder away per year. Then, the papers are close by if I ever need them, but I have a quicker and cleaner way to look at everything that I’ve learned the last year.

One thing that’s always a little stressful is losing a CE paper from an event! Tracking right away will help keep the stress at a minimum, so you know exactly who to contact if you need a replacement. Another way to prevent this heartache is to take classes that have online tracking for you, like Dimensions of Dental Hygiene. With each class you take, the course and the CE certificate is kept safe in your online account. And lucky for us, they have an amazing end of the year promotion right now for CE classes! Purchase 4 CE courses to receive a $15 Amazon.com Gift Card or 6 CE courses to receive a $25 Amazon.com Gift Card. No code needed, and you’ll be able to redeem the classes throughout the next year, so you don’t have to stress to get them in before January.

Do you track your continuing education credits somehow? What works for you? We’d love to learn a new way if you have something better!