5 Strategic Ways to Save Money on CEU Expenses
So you’ve just graduated from your occupational therapy program - hooray! Such an exciting time, am I right?
Now, I know this may not be on the forefront of your mind because you have some time before license renewal BUT it’s never too early to start thinking about your plan for obtaining your Continuing Education Units (CEUs). If you’re not entirely sure what you need, I personally loved this OT Profession Continuing Competence Requirements chart. There are several resources out there but just make sure you know exactly what you need to renew your license because the requirements do vary by state.
I personally had to renew two years after I graduated and let me tell you, those two years seriously flew by. If I’m being honest, I kind of let my renewal month sneak up on me and before I knew it I found myself scrambling for those last few hours before my application needed to be submitted. Don’t be like me friends, be better.
There are a lot of CEU options out there depending on what you’re interested in learning about, your preferred method (virtual vs. in person) and your budget because some of the courses can be quite pricey. There are definitely some CEU courses I’ve loved more than others but we’ll save that for a different post.
Today, let’s chat through five specific ways you can save money on obtaining the CEU credits that you need. Oh wait, you didn’t think I wouldn’t find a way to tie in personal finance with this, did you? Ha! Okay, let’s get into it.
Use your place of employment: If you’re an employee with benefits, you can try to see if your company will provide you with CEU reimbursement as part of your benefits package. You can ask about this during the interview process or during the negotiation process. If your company won’t budge on salary, ask for CEU reimbursement up to a certain amount. This might look like a company allowing you to use up to $500 for CEUs annually. You’d purchase the course, submit a receipt, and you’d be reimbursed on your paycheck. Again, this is just an example and would depend entirely on your company's policy here. Another option would be to see if your company provides any opportunities to earn CEUs. For example, your company might host webinars or classes on a specific topic during your lunch hour and you can attend and earn 1 CEU. I highly recommend starting here - even if it’s not a topic you’re *super* passionate about, it’s a great benefit and one you should definitely ask about & take advantage of if offered. Not an employee? No worries! Keep reading, idea #2 is for you!
Deduct as Business Expense: If you’re an independent contractor with no benefits, you’ve also got an option! Remember in last week’s independent contracting post, I talked about the major advantages of operating as your own business? This is one of them! If you have a business structure such as an LLC or S Corp, you can classify your CEU class/course as a business expense. Yes, this means you could…write it off! Using your CEU costs as a business expense is a great way to lower your taxable income. When you lower your taxable income, you owe less in taxes and end up keeping more money in your pocket - win, win! Note: This is not to be taken in place of legal, financial, or tax advice. Please consult with a Certified Personal Accountant (CPA) to help guide you through your unique tax situation when it comes to business expenses & business deductions.
State Association Events: I currently serve as a board member for the Arizona OT Association which has been such an incredible experience. One of the perks of being a member of your state association is the opportunity to attend free events where you can earn CEU credits. Of course this widely depends on what your state association has to offer but I highly encourage you to get connected to your association and find out what they have going on. This is also a great opportunity to network and expand your OT practitioner community. Typically, these events will be free if you’re a member or at a very low cost to non-members so either way, it doesn’t hurt to reach out and see what upcoming events are happening in your state.
Conferences: I’ll start off this one by acknowledging that conferences are not always cheap but you do get a whole lotta bang for your buck! Depending on the length of the conference, you could earn nearly all (if not all) of your required CEUs over the course of a few days. Conferences are also just a great time overall and allow you to connect with your fellow occupational therapy colleagues. Sometimes companies will actually cover the costs of some employees to attend conferences. Although this is more rare in my experience, it never hurts to ask. Again, if you’re in the negotiation phase and the salary is absolutely non-negotiable, try your hand at seeing if conference attendance could be reimbursed. You never know if you don’t ask and I’ve absolutely heard of some OT practitioners having the cost of their attendance covered.
Online CEU Subscriptions: In today’s age of everything at our virtual fingertips, I love that it’s now easier than ever to obtain CEUs and so much more, online. Now of course I couldn’t wrap up this blog post without spotlighting one of the absolute best online CEU subscriptions out there: Medbridge! MedBridge is a company that believes education is the most powerful way to improve lives and their options for healthcare professionals definitely reflects this. When you sign up for MedBridge, you’ll receive access to 1,500+ AOTA approved online courses with a wide range of topics with the option to pursue specialty learning tracks for things like hand therapy, fall prevention, etc. Courses with MedBridge are dynamic, interactive, convenient and most importantly, evidence-based (courses are updated frequently with new research). If your state requires a certain number of live hours, you also have the option of attending live webinars to fulfill live CEU requirements. Just like conferences, you get a whole lot of bang for your buck with this option especially since your subscription offers one full year of unlimited access. Remember how I said I was scrambling to obtain my CEUs at the last minute? Well, hopefully that won’t be you but if it is, MedBridge has your back and that’s why I highly recommend signing up for a subscription - just make sure to put it in your budget (wink, wink)
Remember, it’s never too early to start planning (and budgeting!) for those CEUs that you’ll need sooner than you think. Although you might have your eye on a specific course that costs several hundred (or even thousand) dollars, I highly recommend taking advantage of the above options first to ensure you meet your requirements for license renewal.
*This post was sponsored by MedBridge. Interested in learning more about MedBridge? Click HERE to use my unique link and use the promo code “Marvelous” to join MedBridge and start earning CEUs today.