Illinois Online Dentistry Course

[apizfoshizz]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Has anyone taken Illinois' online dentistry course? I am interested but was hoping someone on here had taken it and could give some feedback as to whether or not it is worth it. Thanks!

 

[Minnerbelle]

I hadn't heard of it, but it's really cheap compared to Brett Beckman's webinars. I did his extraction webinar which is a 5 hr thing (rather than 1.5 hr with Illinois) which alone was $500. It was really really really good and exactly what I needed. It went over extractions for every type of tooth in detail.

For the price, if you're looking for a general overview of dentistry and you don't know much about dentistry, I don't think you can go wrong. It's like the cheapest it gets. And provided it's done by Illinois it can't be bad. I just don't know how detailed it will be in terms of giving you practical knowledge on actually performing a dental. I'm tempted to at least try one of the smaller modules to see and get all of them if it seems worthwhile, but I'm about to shell out over $4000 on dental CE so I'm a little reluctant. If you're looking for really good in depth CE that will give provide you good clinical training on actually doing dentistry, I would save up for a good dental wetlab. Depending on where you go (Baltimore with Ira Luskin, Orlando with Brett Beckman, or NAVC institute every few years with a group of boarded dentists) they run $1400-1800 for the weekend ones and $4000 for the weeklong NAVC institute. All of them are really comprehensive and good. Extremely helpful for giving you hands on experience with dentals so that you can actually practice on your own. It's just a very tactile thing to learn (even more so than let's say a spay), so unless you have an excellent mentor who will teach you good dentistry, you'll get the biggest bang for your buck with one of these. A majority of practices do really really shoddy dentistry... so be careful who you learn from.

But thanks for bringing this up. I'm interested to hear other people's opinion on them if they've done them. I think I will definitely try their ophtho, cause I can really use the CE there and I haven't been able to find a good online or in person one to go to. Have you tried searching VIN for input on the webinar?

 

[Trilt]

I know I emailed them asking if there was a student discount available and never got a response... 😛

 

[apizfoshizz]

Thanks for the input! I don't know how in-depth MSU goes with dentistry in their curriculum, but I figured it can't hurt. However, shelling out $1400+ for dentistry CE 😱 makes me more likely to enroll in Illinois' course. Chances are pretty good that I'll do it.

 

[cowgirla]

I hadn't heard of it, but it's really cheap compared to Brett Beckman's webinars. I did his extraction webinar which is a 5 hr thing (rather than 1.5 hr with Illinois) which alone was $500. It was really really really good and exactly what I needed. It went over extractions for every type of tooth in detail.

For the price, if you're looking for a general overview of dentistry and you don't know much about dentistry, I don't think you can go wrong. It's like the cheapest it gets. And provided it's done by Illinois it can't be bad. I just don't know how detailed it will be in terms of giving you practical knowledge on actually performing a dental. I'm tempted to at least try one of the smaller modules to see and get all of them if it seems worthwhile, but I'm about to shell out over $4000 on dental CE so I'm a little reluctant. If you're looking for really good in depth CE that will give provide you good clinical training on actually doing dentistry, I would save up for a good dental wetlab. Depending on where you go (Baltimore with Ira Luskin, Orlando with Brett Beckman, or NAVC institute every few years with a group of boarded dentists) they run $1400-1800 for the weekend ones and $4000 for the weeklong NAVC institute. All of them are really comprehensive and good. Extremely helpful for giving you hands on experience with dentals so that you can actually practice on your own. It's just a very tactile thing to learn (even more so than let's say a spay), so unless you have an excellent mentor who will teach you good dentistry, you'll get the biggest bang for your buck with one of these. A majority of practices do really really shoddy dentistry... so be careful who you learn from.

But thanks for bringing this up. I'm interested to hear other people's opinion on them if they've done them. I think I will definitely try their ophtho, cause I can really use the CE there and I haven't been able to find a good online or in person one to go to. Have you tried searching VIN for input on the webinar?

Also just dropped 4K on dental CE. Stupid expensive CE.

Where are you doing your dental CE? I'll be with Luskin in May and June for weekend courses.

 

[pp9]

Thanks for the input! I don't know how in-depth MSU goes with dentistry in their curriculum, but I figured it can't hurt. However, shelling out $1400+ for dentistry CE 😱 makes me more likely to enroll in Illinois' course. Chances are pretty good that I'll do it.

FWIW, apparently we have one of the better/best dentistry programs in the country! I thought MSU didn't actually have a dentistry 'rotation' at all, unless it's combined with their primary care.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Thanks for the input! I don't know how in-depth MSU goes with dentistry in their curriculum, but I figured it can't hurt. However, shelling out $1400+ for dentistry CE 😱 makes me more likely to enroll in Illinois' course. Chances are pretty good that I'll do it.

Oh, if you're still early on in vet school, I'd probably hold off until you get through the didactic part of the curriculum first and maybe do some wetlabs before considering the online modules. It's cheap enough that it can't hurt, but with your current level of training/exposure, the online modules by themselves probably won't help you too much. Definitely will help gain you some knowledge but I'm not sure that's the best use of your money/time. It's kind of like watching the humane alliance videos as a first year when you don't have any opportunities to practice spays/neuters. It's educational yes and I'm sure you can learn from it, but it's not really going to stick or be all that helpful practically speaking until right before your first spay or afterwards.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Also just dropped 4K on dental CE. Stupid expensive CE.

Where are you doing your dental CE? I'll be with Luskin in May and June for weekend courses.

I was going to initially do the 3 day one with Luskin, but then realized the 5 day long full immersion NAVC institute in May will have dental this year and will be doing that instead. It includes hotel room as well, AND registration for the NAVC conference the year after so all in all it's a really good deal.

I recently asked a dentist whether I should do weekend courses with beckman or luskin, and she told me about the NAVC institute. She said both Luskin and Beckman's courses are really good, but hands down she would recommend the NAVC institute (beckman is one of the boarded dentists teaching parts of it) Registration isn't open yet but I'm planning on signing up as soon as it opens.

And dental rave: today I felt like a dental superstar! Had a very firmly rooted chihuahua deciduous canine that came out beautifully without breaking the root. Had another dental that went well. Then had a horrid mouth dental. Did full mouth rads, made two textbook perfect quadrant flaps, extracted 20 teeth (mostly surgical) on one side of the mouth, didn't break a single root even with some ankylosis, closed both quadrant flaps, did post extraction rads, and had my tech finish cleaning/polishing all in 3 hrs. It was one of those moments when it hit me that I'm actually getting pretty damn good at it now. Like I've really come a long way. That was a great feeling! And then one of the dental patients' owners I hadn't actually met before (I always see the husband) had the front desk call me up at discharge time just so she could meet me and tell me how much she and her husband love me, asked me never to leave the practice, and that if I did to let her know where I'm going because they would follow me. I've also had a few clients just in the past week specifically come to me to have their pet's dental booked even though I'm booked out at least a month out. In the same span of time, I had two owners of pets I've recently done dentals thank me because their pet is behaving differently for the better, seeming much more comfortable. This has been a very warm and fuzzy dental week!!!

 

[Starry-chan]

I was going to initially do the 3 day one with Luskin, but then realized the 5 day long full immersion NAVC institute in May will have dental this year and will be doing that instead. It includes hotel room as well, AND registration for the NAVC conference the year after so all in all it's a really good deal.

I recently asked a dentist whether I should do weekend courses with beckman or luskin, and she told me about the NAVC institute. She said both Luskin and Beckman's courses are really good, but hands down she would recommend the NAVC institute (beckman is one of the boarded dentists teaching parts of it) Registration isn't open yet but I'm planning on signing up as soon as it opens.

And dental rave: today I felt like a dental superstar! Had a very firmly rooted chihuahua deciduous canine that came out beautifully without breaking the root. Had another dental that went well. Then had a horrid mouth dental. Did full mouth rads, made two textbook perfect quadrant flaps, extracted 20 teeth (mostly surgical) on one side of the mouth, didn't break a single root even with some ankylosis, closed both quadrant flaps, did post extraction rads, and had my tech finish cleaning/polishing all in 3 hrs. It was one of those moments when it hit me that I'm actually getting pretty damn good at it now. Like I've really come a long way. That was a great feeling! And then one of the dental patients' owners I hadn't actually met before (I always see the husband) had the front desk call me up at discharge time just so she could meet me and tell me how much she and her husband love me, asked me never to leave the practice, and that if I did to let her know where I'm going because they would follow me. I've also had a few clients just in the past week specifically come to me to have their pet's dental booked even though I'm booked out at least a month out. In the same span of time, I had two owners of pets I've recently done dentals thank me because their pet is behaving differently for the better, seeming much more comfortable. This has been a very warm and fuzzy dental week!!!

D'awwwwwwww! Clients like that are the best! <3

 

[Minnerbelle]

D'awwwwwwww! Clients like that are the best! <3

Overwhelmingly the clients that really love me enough to really push them to insist on seeing me and no one else are my dentals and euthanasias. I never really know how to feel about that. I think that's fairly common with euthanasias for any practitioner with good bedside manner, but it's not something that I want to consider my biggest practice builder...

 

[Minnerbelle]

FWIW, apparently we have one of the better/best dentistry programs in the country! I thought MSU didn't actually have a dentistry 'rotation' at all, unless it's combined with their primary care.

What does the program entail?

 

[pp9]

What does the program entail?

From what we're told, the rotation (which I think might actually be an elective for us) allows for a lot of experience in everything from routine dentals to oral masses and whatnot on it's own, as opposed to the primary care service handling it all. I don't think the program entails anything particularly unique, but it's the fact that this school actually has one. The downside is that it's not particularly busy. I can send you the rotation synopsis if you'd like! I don't know too much about the CE aspect of the dental service, though.

 

[cowgirla]

My issue with NAVC is the location and needing to fly, board the dogs, etc! Luskin is only 40 minutes from me so it's easy. My boss did it a few years ago and he is excellent at dentistry so fingers crossed.

 

[Starry-chan]

Overwhelmingly the clients that really love me enough to really push them to insist on seeing me and no one else are my dentals and euthanasias. I never really know how to feel about that. I think that's fairly common with euthanasias for any practitioner with good bedside manner, but it's not something that I want to consider my biggest practice builder...

I can see why that would feel bittersweet.

But hey, at least you gave those animals a good send off! <3

 

[Minnerbelle]

My issue with NAVC is the location and needing to fly, board the dogs, etc! Luskin is only 40 minutes from me so it's easy. My boss did it a few years ago and he is excellent at dentistry so fingers crossed.

Everyone I know who's gone to Luskin has been very satisfied, which is why I was planning on it! Just because I'll have to fly either way, it just made more sense for me to do one full week instead of 2 weekends.

 

[Minnerbelle]

From what we're told, the rotation (which I think might actually be an elective for us) allows for a lot of experience in everything from routine dentals to oral masses and whatnot on it's own, as opposed to the primary care service handling it all. I don't think the program entails anything particularly unique, but it's the fact that this school actually has one. The downside is that it's not particularly busy. I can send you the rotation synopsis if you'd like! I don't know too much about the CE aspect of the dental service, though.

There are definitely schools that have dental electives with the dental service. That in itself isn't that unique. The biggest gripe with them is usually the same as the surgery service, in that if patients are coming in for the dentist to do the dental, students wouldn't be doing the dental. Like yes they are helpful because you can learn a ton about oral pathology and dentals in general. However, you won't really gain the skills you need. A lot of places even private practice dentists will let externs practice on cadaver heads, which is really really helpful, but it just takes lots of practice to actually get proficient in it, just like with surgery (pref in a live patient). There's just way fewer opportunities for students to do that with dentistry compared to surgery. If there are actual dental specific electives out there that allows students to do multiple solo dentals (the doctor parts with oral surgery, not just the "tech parts" like xrays and cleaning that are important to know but not what will be your billable work in practice), it would be nice to know. The schools that have community practices that let students do dentals as far as I know tend to give the most hands on experience in this regard.

 

[Trilt]

There are definitely schools that have dental electives with the dental service. That in itself isn't that unique. The biggest gripe with them is usually the same as the surgery service, in that if patients are coming in for the dentist to do the dental, students wouldn't be doing the dental. Like yes they are helpful because you can learn a ton about oral pathology and dentals in general. However, you won't really gain the skills you need. A lot of places even private practice dentists will let externs practice on cadaver heads, which is really really helpful, but it just takes lots of practice to actually get proficient in it, just like with surgery (pref in a live patient). There's just way fewer opportunities for students to do that with dentistry compared to surgery. If there are actual dental specific electives out there that allows students to do multiple solo dentals (the doctor parts with oral surgery, not just the "tech parts" like xrays and cleaning that are important to know but not what will be your billable work in practice), it would be nice to know. The schools that have community practices that let students do dentals as far as I know tend to give the most hands on experience in this regard.

For what it's worth, I asked that specific question (good place for student learning/externships) on VIN last year and didn't get any magical externship locations. Suggestions to hang out with a vet dentist, attend the dental forum (which I went to last year and did have a pretty great beginner track) or go to the MD dental training center were pretty much it.

 

[pp9]

There are definitely schools that have dental electives with the dental service. That in itself isn't that unique. The biggest gripe with them is usually the same as the surgery service, in that if patients are coming in for the dentist to do the dental, students wouldn't be doing the dental. Like yes they are helpful because you can learn a ton about oral pathology and dentals in general. However, you won't really gain the skills you need. A lot of places even private practice dentists will let externs practice on cadaver heads, which is really really helpful, but it just takes lots of practice to actually get proficient in it, just like with surgery (pref in a live patient). There's just way fewer opportunities for students to do that with dentistry compared to surgery. If there are actual dental specific electives out there that allows students to do multiple solo dentals (the doctor parts with oral surgery, not just the "tech parts" like xrays and cleaning that are important to know but not what will be your billable work in practice), it would be nice to know. The schools that have community practices that let students do dentals as far as I know tend to give the most hands on experience in this regard.

Right, but not all schools have a dentistry service/rotation I guess. Based on the rotation description, it sounds like you get a lot of practice on cadavers. I'm not sure if solo dentals are involved. A lot of 4th years seem to be pretty happy with it though!

 

[Minnerbelle]

Also just dropped 4K on dental CE. Stupid expensive CE.

Where are you doing your dental CE? I'll be with Luskin in May and June for weekend courses.

I take it back, I switched to the Baltimore CE instead because I looked at the NAVC institute course catalogue they finally came up and I was kind of disappointed with the curriculum.

 

[DVMDream]

Right, but not all schools have a dentistry service/rotation I guess. Based on the rotation description, it sounds like you get a lot of practice on cadavers. I'm not sure if solo dentals are involved. A lot of 4th years seem to be pretty happy with it though!

Meh, if you aren't getting to do much more than clean/take rads (which don't get me wrong, are great experiences) on your "dental rotation" then you aren't getting more than the schools who have dentistry as part of primary care services.

I would be very surprised if any school dental rotation actually allowed for extraction of teeth by students. From what most people have stated with dentals at schools, it is similar to surgery.. you get to watch and maybe hold an instrument, but you don't get to "do" much, which is really what is needed to become proficient. Oh, yeah, you get to do the paperwork after..... we all know how much fun that is.

I would love to go do some dental CE... but holy carp... $4,000??? 😱
Is that normal for CE? Or is this just because you are getting a bunch of wet labs and one-on-one teaching?

 

[Minnerbelle]

Most tend to run $1500-2000 for a weekend CE (2-3 day programs). The NAVC institute is 4-5 days long and includes accommodations in a fancy hotel and meals and registration for the NAVC conference the following year, which is why the price is high.

Pretty much most wetlab heavy weekend CE runs about 1500-2000, whether it be surgery, ultrasound, dentistry, etc...

Otherwise, I've gotten like over 27 CE credits this year paying $500. I had ways of getting discounts on the rest so that I didn't need to use CE money for it, which made it so cheap. I think everything together was worth like $1200. The lecture only ones are relatively cheap, usually a few hundred dollars for the whole day.

 

[DVMDream]

The NAVC institute is 4-5 days long and includes accommodations in a fancy hotel and meals and registration for the NAVC conference the following year, which is why the price is high.

.

That makes more sense. I was thinking it was just the CE and you still had to cover hotel, registration, etc...

 

[Minnerbelle]

And if you're really poor and in need of credits, a lot of specialty practices will have free or very cheap CE, as do places like idexx/antech, pharma, and pet food companies.

 

[cowgirla]

I take it back, I switched to the Baltimore CE instead because I looked at the NAVC institute course catalogue they finally came up and I was kind of disappointed with the curriculum.

I've got the fundamentals in early May and surgery 1 and 2 in late June. Any chance you are here for those?
If not, and you find yourself bored on the weekends you are here, let me know and we can maybe grab dinner or something. It's only about 45 minutes from me 🙂

 

[cowgirla]

I would love to go do some dental CE... but holy carp... $4,000??? 😱
Is that normal for CE? Or is this just because you are getting a bunch of wet labs and one-on-one teaching?

I'll second what Minners said about costs. The hands on ones are definitely pricey. Trick is getting your employer to cover it 🙂 Contract negotiation goes both ways.
Most of the big national conferences offer discounted registration for new grads. I went to CVC for ~250$ and got 30+ CE credits there. I've also done a few webinars and free talks through the local equine referral center, sales rep dinners, etc at no cost.

 

[Minnerbelle]

I've got the fundamentals in early May and surgery 1 and 2 in late June. Any chance you are here for those?
If not, and you find yourself bored on the weekends you are here, let me know and we can maybe grab dinner or something. It's only about 45 minutes from me 🙂

Nope, I'm going in a month for surgery 1+2 🙂

Ooh, I'll prob have to pass on dinner this time around because I have other plans already, but def for sure next time!

 

[deleted498041]

Meh, if you aren't getting to do much more than clean/take rads (which don't get me wrong, are great experiences) on your "dental rotation" then you aren't getting more than the schools who have dentistry as part of primary care services.

I would be very surprised if any school dental rotation actually allowed for extraction of teeth by students. From what most people have stated with dentals at schools, it is similar to surgery.. you get to watch and maybe hold an instrument, but you don't get to "do" much, which is really what is needed to become proficient. Oh, yeah, you get to do the paperwork after..... we all know how much fun that is.

I would love to go do some dental CE... but holy carp... $4,000??? 😱
Is that normal for CE? Or is this just because you are getting a bunch of wet labs and one-on-one teaching?

I got to pull a handful of teeth on GP, but I believe our actual dentistry rotations are very similar to how you described. People talk highly about working with Dr. Neimec out in SoCal though, and I think they get to do some stuff with cadaver heads and the like.