THE EDITOR'S CORNER

Study clubs can be a source of multiple benefits to orthodontists, but they are far from common in our field. One reason for this is that competition prevents colleagues in an area from getting together for study club activities.

A solution to this problem could be the formation of study clubs on a broader geographic base, up to a national base or even an international base. Classmates who settle in different parts of the country, friends from various localities, orthodontists who are attracted to one another through courses and meetings could form just as strong and cohesive a group as could be done locally.

The usual study club activities of sharing knowledge and experience in therapy and practice administration could be augmented with assessments of the economic problems in practice which are becoming more prominent with time. There is an urgent need for orthodontists to help each other to understand the trends and to share ideas for economic problem solving.

Air travel has become so commonplace, that everyone is no more than a half-day distance from everyone else. A weekend every 3, 4, or 6 months--or as desired by the group--would be a painless way to maintain study club activity, with the meeting location circulating among the locations of the members or other sites. While I do not think that these meetings should occur with pleasurable travel in mind, that is not necessarily to be ruled out after the business of the study club meeting is taken care of.