by Patrick Markey

Created on: October 04, 2010

Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers, Caregivers all belong to professions that need continuing education in order to stay current and licensed.  Continuing education is a term that covers a wide array of educational opportunities.  Consider a Google search  and see the plethora of education based keywords associated with it.  The idea of continuing your education can be for the purpose of renewing a credential or certificate or continuing a degree program or pursuing post graduate work.

Education credits

Many individuals are returning for  continuing education credits' to further their learning for a job or occupation, renewing a credential or for the sake of a safety related mandated training.  Teachers, Life guards, insurance sales people among others are all required to receive continuing education in order to stay up to date on industry standards and protocols. Many times these courses can be completed over a short period of time and even an intensive day or weekend training.  Other programs require more hours of learning and could take weeks or months to complete.  These units are generally known as CEU (continuing education units) and each unit constitutes10 hours of study.

Non Credit

Some individuals need skills to further a career path or receive training to qualify for a job duty.  Examples might include obtaining a safety course certificate.  The credits are only applicable to a specific industry and don't transfer to any other industry.  Some individuals might be taking classes such as this for personal development and skill building.

Annual Training

Some continuing education occurs annually.  This training provides an opportunity for professionals to stay current with industry or company trends.  These types of trainings are generally required and are provided in-house or through a trade organization or credentialing body.  Teachers and counselors need continuing education to renew their credential.  Many seminars that are held are places that these credits can be earned.

Many individuals are going back to college both in the traditional sense as well as online.  Furthering education makes one more marketable and provides a competitive edge over others with less training. Finishing up a degree or attending school for an advanced certificate  is all part of continuing education.

Continuing education takes place at trade organizations, colleges, universities, schools, conference centers, online or anywhere that people can get together and learn.  In order to prosper and get ahead in a profession learning needs to take place and continuing education fills that need.

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