How Dental Assistants can learn new skills while in Quarantine

Wondering how to learn new skills while in Quarantine to advance your career as Dental Assistant while you quarantine at home?

 As COVID-19 cases increase, events and work have gone digital, resources are becoming readily available online, including courses that can give your resume a boost and keep you preoccupied.  According to Meridian College, there are seven skills every Dental Assistant needs to be successful: Administrative skills for processing and record-keeping, computer skills, interpersonal and listening skills when interacting with patients and coworkers, organizational skills, and have the dexterity; working with hands and using tools. Whether you’re looking for ways to develop your skills as a Dental Assistant or learn new skills while in quarantine, there are several virtual, at-home ways to develop new skills. 

Here are some ways to learn new skills as a Dental Assistant while quarantining:

Attend A Webinar

Interested in learning new skills with other professionals? Attend a webinar!

Webinars are a great place to learn more about oral health, network, and develop your interpersonal skills.  Colgate Oral Health Network has some great webinars coming up. Interested in learning about issues and recommendations for integrating oral health into primary care? Then, Integrating Oral Health Into Primary Care Requires More Than Jost Treatment Planning is the webinar for you. It’s free and bonus, you can receive CE credit (CERP).  Not only will you learn the importance of improving oral health, but you’ll also learn the important role telehealth plays in diverse communities.  

Communicating with Patients:  Even if you’re not in the office, patients may have some questions.. Want to develop better processing skills, understand the current dental plan marketplace, or how to communicate with patients about dental insurance? Check out the Understanding Dental Insurance: An Introduction Webinar and register here for their April 7, 2020. Check out the CDEWorld Live Webinar section for more Webinars, especially if you work in Pediatric Dentistry.

Want to watch and connect with others outside of your network? Check out sites such as Score.org  and Career Confidential, where you connect and help build your resume.

Take an Online Course

Online courses are a great way to learn, boost your resume, and keep yourself occupied while your quarantine.  There are thousands of courses online, many are free and self-paced, meaning you work at your own pace. Platforms such as Code Academy (coding), Udemy. Skillshare, edX, and even YouTube have a variety of courses. Whether you want to develop stronger record-keeping skills, master excel, or take a grant writing course; these platforms have it all.  If you’re not sure what type of skill or where you’d like to focus on, connect with your coworkers or check out a list of skills needed to become a successful Dental Assistant.

While taking a course is a great way to keep yourself preoccupied, you can take it one step further and get certified. Many of these courses online allow you to become certified, getting certified after a webinar or course not only boosts your resume but it helps your patients. Implementing those skills in your work can improve patient satisfaction, communication, and ensure that your skills are up to date. It also helps if you’re ready to move to the next level in your career.

Wondering where to go to get certified? Check out Learning During the Pandemic: Best Online Certifications for a Dental Assistant or connect with your coworkers.

Attend Virtual Events

Whether you want to network to connect or learn a new skill, you can do it online. Attending, a virtual event like Virtual Dental Assistant Round Table allows you to connect with attendees from various states and clinics or industries.  Although this event costs, there are free virtual events. Before you attend the event:

•  Research workshops and events you’re interested in and valuable to your growth.
• Connect with coworkers to see if the workshop is valuable or if they’d like to join.
• Check out who the speakers are, and if they have other workshops that might be of interest.

Once you choose an event: Be sure to connect and network with attendees. 

Alternative Skills: Learn how to create your own event, workshop, or blog about your experience as a Dental Assistant.

 Learning how to create your own event comes in handy when developing events in your office or teaching communities the importance of oral hygiene, i.e. community partnership work. You can pick up skills such as marketing, event planning, and outreach. These skills can help you with interfacing with patients, plus you can use these skills to improve your workplace.

Blogging about your experience: Whether you blog via a platform like WordPress, Blogger, or Medium, or write/record your experiences as a Dental Assistant can be therapeutic and allows you to reflect on how far you’ve come in your career. It also helps you strengthen your writing and record-keeping skills, your experience may help someone who’s looking to work in your field. 

Why is important to learn new skills

Using this time to learn new skills allows you to expand your knowledge of certain areas of Dental Assistantship. It allows you to improve your work and your resume.  You can use your new skill and certification to receive a raise, promotion, expand your Dental Assistant role, or find a new position.

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