I have a few comments regarding Dr. Gordon Christensen’s March JADA article, "Dealing With the Increasing Need for Continuing Education" (
JADA 2007;138[3]:387–90
). Being the recognized world-class leader he is in the continuing education arena, it is discouraging that Dr. Christensen did not recommend in this article reading professional, peer-reviewed dental publications as an acceptable CE resource. This contrasts with one of his many brilliant previous JADA columns1 in which, based on adequacy, he assigned at least a secondary CE role to reading professional dental publications, just ahead of the Internet and audiotapes.
As the publishers of Dental Abstracts for the Spanish-speaking world since 1993, we perceive that, due mostly to the large quantity of information modern dentists face, there is an unquestionable need now, more than ever before, to expand their capacity to critically review the dental literature. This would allow dentists to discriminate more easily between commercial and scientific publications and, hence, make better informed decisions. Also, it would help them recognize that a truly professional dental periodical reflects the common ground we share with the health care system and the research community, as well as the key role that reading it critically plays in postdoctoral training and research.
We totally agree with Dr. Christensen: CE is a necessity of life for all dentists.
TOP
REFERENCES
