Chicago-based The Aspen Group is working to cement itself as a leader in continuing education through its learning and development programs.
The Aspen Group launched TAG University in 2023 to offer educational opportunities to providers and staff across its brands, including Aspen Dental and ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers. TAG University offers educational pathways for healthcare providers and staff to advance in areas such as clinical care, leadership, and business and operations.
Laura Sage, the director of learning and development at The Aspen Group, recently spoke with Becker’s to discuss one of the organization’s recent courses and how the DSO approaches continuing education.
Editor’s note: Responses were lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: TAG recently hosted a “Leading the Practice” course for doctors. What was the process for developing that curriculum, and how was provider feedback taken into consideration?
Laura Sage: We send out a [continuing education] survey across the organization to doctors and providers to really see what they need and what they want. We also collected feedback from practice owners across the organization to see, where do you feel at this point in a doctor’s journey you’re finding struggles? [My team] mapped out what exactly it is that these doctors need to know to be successful when leading a practice. We say all the time “You’re the leader,” but what does that actually mean? They are really the culture keeper, so without the doctor’s clear leadership, a lot of things can break down, both in the team and the patient experience. How do we get them to a point where they feel confident in being able to do that? We put a needs analysis together, and then from there, broke out into topic areas and started designing the learning objectives and the content from there … If we’re gonna fly somebody to Chicago, we don’t want to just sit them in a room and make it lecture based. We want them to really use their own knowledge [and] their own experience to make learning come to life and then tie it up in a bow at the end, which is a simulation of what it’s like to be in the office, but in a safe environment where they feel like they can practice things and bounce ideas off, so that when they go back, it feels very realistic that they’re able to actually implement things.
In each session, [doctors] wrote down a behavior they would like to see implemented in the office, who their partner is for making that happen, and a due date for that. Then, they sent that off to their operations manager, regional manager and practice owner if they have one, so that there’s accountability. They actually walk away with a workbook and playbook on, “Here’s how I can lead the practice efficiently with my own ideas on how that happens.” From there, we’ll continuously iterate. We do evaluations after each program and kind of sit down and say, “That’s sticking,” or “That’s not. We need to make changes.” This program rolled out in September of last year, but we’ve been continuously making improvements because you just have to until it really sticks.
Q: How does it feel to witness these doctors advance through these courses throughout the year and grow in their field? Does it feel almost as if you’re a proud parent?
LS: That’s exactly how it is. We’ve got a doctor who we have seen come through from the very beginning and he’s come through all of the master classes, and we even had a doctor come through a multi-unit in May who came through month one. Now, they own multiple practices, and it’s just a great experience to see. We can directly see the results they have. We’re invested in them, but it also takes an equal part of investment on their end too. They need to actually put it into practice.
Q: I can imagine that building a strong relationship between the instructors and doctors is an important part of the learning journey, similar to the relationship between a doctor and patient. Is that correct?
LS: A hundred percent. I think that’s what has kept me at Aspen for so long, is the people. People have invested in my own growth. I started out in the field and I never imagined that in 10 years, this is where I would have gone. To be able to give that to somebody else is huge, and I think our entire team feels very invested in that … You start to build a friendship with them, more than just like you’re coming in for a class and you move on. It’s definitely a long-term partnership with these folks, which is great.
Q: What are some of the challenges that come up for you and the rest of the leadership and development team when it comes to running an operation like this for an organization as large as The Aspen Group?
LS: The nice thing is, since we are such a focal point in the organization, there’s a clamoring for more content, programs, etc. While we have such a big space, there are technically only a few large classrooms, so what we are going to put where from a scheduling perspective is huge. Also, being mindful of what is the right thing in the right modality? We [have to consider] what is right for in-person [instruction] because it’s not cheap to come to Chicago for either side. Also, can [a course] be done virtually? Can it be done self paced? And then utilizing our team. We have a rather large team, but plugging and playing people the right ways to be able to bring it to life. So, beyond just the core foundational learning, our organization as a whole is transforming every single day, and in order to make that happen, training has to be built for that. We even have a dedicated part of our team that works in an agile perspective to enable the pilots and initiatives and rollouts that are happening, aside from all the things that are happening here. Finding that balance can sometimes be tricky because both are important, so while it’s a big team, how do we utilize them in the best way to get the best result for the learner and the organization?
Q: What is something DSOs often get wrong when it comes to upskilling their team and leadership and development?
LS: I think the biggest misconception we hear is that we’re telling the doctors how to doctor, like how to do things. We are offering consultative guidance on a lot of these things. We have many experts who were top in their field that helped build a lot of the curriculum, but we’re never going to tell them what to do and how to do it. It’s up to them to adopt whatever it is they want because at the end of the day, they’re the provider. They can utilize our services however they would like to. We get a lot of doctors who come in and they’re like, “Well, I heard I can’t manage my own schedule. Aspen runs my schedule,” or “I have no control over what I treatment plan,” and that’s just simply not the case … we’re just helping them with the tools to make it happen.
