I'll preface this by saying that I'm a trainer working for a veterinary hospital. My goal is go on to get my certification as a behaviorist and I specialize in working with anxiety and aggression cases. We see a lot of them in my line of work, and a lot of the trainers in this area refuse to work with anxiety or aggression cases. My classes are usually one-on-one, and I work with either the vet at my hospital or the patients vet during the training to monitor how medications, sedatives, etc. are effecting the subject.
My goal with each client is to help my client learn how to speak to their dog, and vice versa. My goal is not to get the dog to do tricks, or hit a certain mark every time, but rather be obedient and controllable under stressful situations which would usually cause the dog to become anxious or aggressive. I've had real success with this goal and made huge strides with my clients.
I just finished the AKC module. Frankly, I think this is a waste of time. In my area, very few dogs are AKC registered, and I feel like my education didn't benefit from having to read that excessively long module. Now, I'm not a fan of the AKC, and other clubs. Frankly, they don't do anything for the well being of the dog, but rather are striving for a standard that they believe is acceptable.
That being said, there is more than enough information out there regarding the AKC obedience trials, and other club trials, that even an amateur dog trainer could learn and teach to their students, should they desire. But these trials, with their very narrow goals and targets, are not what most dog trainers are going to encounter.
Maybe I'm just in a bad mood, but I feel like that was a waste of time.