Continuing professional development systems and requirements for graduate dentists in the EU: survey results from the DentCPD project

INTRODUCTION

By maintaining skills and keeping dentists up-to-date, continuing professional development (CPD) supports safe clinical practice. However, CPD for dentists across Europe is not harmonised.

AIM

One aim of the 'DentCPD' project (www.dentcpd.org) was to identify and agree essential CPD requirements for EU dentists. As part of the process, data were collected on existing approaches to CPD for EU dentists. This paper reports those findings.

METHODS

Informed by a review of the literature and internet search, the CPD for Graduate Dentists questionnaire gathered data from dental educators on CPD systems, requirements, provision and accreditation in Europe. It sought opinion on mandatory CPD and e-learning.

RESULTS

Responses were received from 143 individuals from 30 EU countries. About half the countries had a compulsory CPD system which typically included mandatory core topics. Elsewhere CPD was optional or based on recommended hours. University dental schools and professional dental associations were the most common CPD providers. National regulatory bodies were the most common accrediting body. Only 41% of respondents thought they knew the criteria for successful accreditation of CPD. Eighty-one percent agreed that 'CPD should be obligatory for all dentists'.

CONCLUSION

These results present an overview of the status of CPD for EU dentists. Despite a notable trend towards regulated CPD systems, current requirements for dentists to engage in CPD show variation. The harmonisation of requirements would enhance both dentist mobility and safe clinical practice.

Revalidation in primary care--a personal view

This article explores an approach to Revalidation based on the principles of quality assurance.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

The delivery of safe, effective clinical care is the goal of every practitioner and the use of appropriate quality assurance processes can promote this and, at the same time, meet the General Dental Council's likely requirements for revalidation.

Legal considerations in the use of cone beam computer tomography imaging

Cone beam computed tomography imaging represents a paradigm shift for enhancing diagnosis and treatment planning. Questions regarding cone beam computed tomography's associated legal responsibility are addressed, including cone beam computed tomography necessity, recognition of pathosis in the scan's entire volume, adequate training, informed consent and/or refusal and current court status of cone beam computed tomography. Judicious selection and prudent use of cone beam computed tomography technology to protect and promote patient safety and efficacious treatment complies with the standard of care.

New technologies in health care. Part 2: A legal and professional dilemma

With the constant introduction and marketing of new dental technologies, dentists sometimes have difficulty deciding whether a new technology will be beneficial to their patients. At the same time, these clinicians are professionally and legally obligated to inform their patients about all appropriate therapeutic alternatives. In this second article of a 2-part series, we review these obligations, as well as provide information about where dentists can find the necessary scientific evidence on which to base an informed decision.

Continuing education. Your most asked questions about CE and licensure

MDA members frequently ask questions about con tinuing education requirements, licensure requirements and other related topics. This has been the case ever since mandatory continuing education went into effect in the early 1990s. But since 2004, when the state revised its mandatory continuing education rules, the number of these questions has increased. Recently, MDA Executive Director Drew Eason and Director of Continuing Education Andrea Sundermann met with Rae Ramsdell, director of licensing for the Bureau of Health Professions, which is responsible for the Michigan Board of Dentistry, to get some definitive answers for our members. Ramsdell is the "go-to" person with the state of Michigan, and the MDA works closely with her whenever these types of questions come up. Here are some of your most-asked questions, answered by Rae Ramsdell, representing the state of Michigan.

Continuing education: obligation or duty? The European dilemma

Continuing dental education is now a professional and ethical obligation. The practising dentist has the responsibility to be a continuous learner by participating in educational programmes. This requirement for a career long education system provides awareness to the public that the dental profession is dedicated to the maintenance of high evidence-based education and permanent research into the best quality standards. Numerous European countries are involved in this process in an attempt to harmonise basic guidelines.

Continuing dental education requirements for relicensure in the United States

BACKGROUND

Mandatory continuing education (CE) is an almost universal requirement for relicensure of dentists in the United States. In recent years, computer-based methods have become more widely adopted as a vehicle for earning CE credits. To obtain a comprehensive overview of CE requirements in the United States, the authors conducted a survey on how computer-based CE methods are regulated.

METHODS

The authors reviewed the dental statutes of 50 states and the District of Columbia regarding the license renewal period, required number of CE hours, limitations on clinical and nonclinical subjects, on-site versus independent-study courses, and other requirements regarding CE.

RESULTS

The authors found that 45 states and the District of Columbia mandate CE for relicensure at this time. Most dentists were required to complete approximately 20 hours per year. Ten states specified a minimum number of clinical hours, 17 states limited nonclinical hours, and seven states placed constraints on both clinical and nonclinical CE. Sixty-five percent of states limited the number of CE credits that could be accumulated through independent study. Specific requirements for computer-based methods of earning CE credits were absent in general.

CONCLUSIONS

State licensing boards across the United States have implemented comprehensive requirements for CE. Few, if any, provisions addressed computer-based methods of earning CE credits.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Given the increasing adoption of computer-based methods of earning CE credits, state dental boards and accrediting agencies may want to consider steps to improve the quality of computer-based methods of earning CE credits.

Continuing professional development--global perspectives: synopsis of a workshop held during the International Association of Dental Research meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden, 2003. Part 2: regulatory and accreditation systems and evidence for improving the performance of the dental team

This paper is the second in a series of two that report on continuing professional development (CPD). Details of the informants and the methodologies used were reported in the first paper. This paper reports the data and information presented on the topics of regulatory and accreditation systems for CPD and evidence that CPD improves the performance of the oral health team. By June 2003, participation in CPD was mandatory in most of the states of the USA, all Canadian Provinces, the UK and Latvia and was likely to become mandatory in a number of other countries in the near future. A variety of accreditation systems were reported including collecting CPD points, which in some countries were weighted depending on the type of CPD activity, and re-certification examinations. Very few studies for the effectiveness of dental CPD were identified. However, in general it was concluded that there is little evidence for the effectiveness of CPD for the oral health team. The main recommendation from this study is that a systematic review of the effectiveness of CPD in improving the performance of the oral health team and patient based outcomes be undertaken. A range of other research questions was also identified including: how can CPD be best matched to clinicians' needs rather than demands?

Letter from California--mandatory continuing education

In Britain, mandatory continuing dental education is on its way. In California, we have had mandatory continuing dental education for some twenty-five years. Maybe it would help to see some of the good and bad sides of this, learn from some of our mistakes and see what does work and what does not work--at least in California.

Re-accreditation, re-certification and the postgraduate database

A consultation paper from the GDC has suggested that there will be a re-accreditation and re-certification procedure for dental practitioners which will require evidence of continuing postgraduate education. There is debate as to how that information should be held and who should hold it.

[Education and qualification of dentists in the Dutch legislation]

Education and qualification of dentists are linked together in a certain way. The developments with respect to that are described, successively in the period before 1947 and afterwards, since the training of dentists became a university education. This improved education, leading to a broader qualification for the newly trained dentists. As a result of a new law handling of the obtained qualification by a dentist will be related to continuing education to be competent to practice dentistry according to the scientific state of affairs in dentistry.