No change to the recognition of CPD activities for dental practitioners

13 Apr 2021

The Dental Board of Australia (the Board) does not specify any mandatory continuing professional development (CPD) activities.

It expects dental practitioners to engage in a range of CPD activities in line with the objectives of CPD. Practitioners should exercise professional judgement and ensure any CPD they carry out is relevant and aligns with their specific learning needs.

The Board does not accredit, review or approve CPD courses or CPD course providers.

The Board has not appointed, engaged, approved or affiliated with any organisation to accredit CPD courses run by professional associations or other providers. This includes a new business, Dental Education Accreditation Pty Ltd – trading as Dental Education Accreditation Committee (DEAC), which claimed in its media release on 6 April 2021 that it ‘… has been tasked with formally accrediting both Providers of Dental CPD and their activities …‘

The Board has not assigned any functions or responsibilities to this entity, nor has it developed a framework for the formal accreditation of dental CPD.

All dental practitioners must meet the Board’s Continuing professional development registration standard.

CPD is how dental practitioners maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge, expertise and competence, and develop the personal and professional qualities required throughout their professional lives.

Practitioners planning their CPD are reminded that resources developed by the Board are available to help them meet their professional obligations.

Resources, such as the reflective practice tool, support dental practitioners and help them reflect on their individual knowledge and skills and how they relate to their current practice. The tool includes a series of questions and statements requiring a response, designed to help practitioners reflect on their scope of practice and set their CPD goals.

The Guidelines on continuing professional development provide direction on the characteristics a practitioner should consider when choosing CPD activities, including:

• open disclosure about monetary or special interest the course provider may have with any company whose products are discussed in the course
• the scientific basis of the activity is not distorted by commercial considerations. For example, be aware of embedded advertising and direct commercial links
• contemporary clinical and professional issues are addressed and reflect accepted dental practice or are based on critical appraisal of scientific literature
• the content of CPD activities must be evidence-based
• if the CPD activity includes an assessment or feedback activity this should be designed to go beyond the simple recall of facts and seek to demonstrate learning with an emphasis on integration and use of knowledge in professional practice, and
• an opportunity to provide feedback to the CPD provider from participants on the quality of the CPD activity.

CPD activities relied upon to improve or broaden knowledge should provide experience in the technique or procedure.

The Board encourages dental practitioners to reflect on their own practice and identify areas where they can benefit from CPD activities.

More information is available on the CPD resources page of the Board’s website.