11 minute read
Manage your CPD future
CPD can unlock so many options for career development and advancement, but who determines your requirements?
By Robyn Russell
Continuing Professional Development or CPD as it is more commonly referred to is an essential element of any health professional’s career. Some may see this requirement as a necessary task, whereas others relish in the opportunity that participation creates. Whatever your personal bias, the overarching goal of participating in any CPD activity should lie in the relevance or validity of the learning experience to your own particular journey.
Participating in CPD can offer clinicians valuable learning opportunities to explore and add to their repertoire of clinical offerings. CPD can open the gates to create a valuable and fulfilling career in dentistry. The investment of time and money in such activities can be returned ten-fold with careful consideration and goal setting. CPD may offer a platform for connection with like-minded clinicians to collaborate and co-discover emerging techniques and technologies. Many clinicians become isolated in their practice and the ability to attend events and discuss the issues with others can also provide a positive outlet.
While COVID has restricted the travel element of many CPD opportunities. The time will come again when travel is easier, and the great joy of travelling to a location and participating in an event with you peers will return. Having an event to look forward to and learn with fellow clinicians often leaves the practitioner feeling rejuvenated upon their return to clinical practice, having had a learning 'fix'.
AHPRA definition for CPD states:.
“Continuing professional development (CPD) is how health practitioners maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge, expertise and competence, and develop the personal and professional qualities required throughout their professional lives. Health practitioners who are engaged in any form of practice are required to participate regularly in CPD that is relevant to their scope of practice in order to maintain, develop, update and enhance their knowledge, skills and performance to help them deliver appropriate and safe care.”
The Dental Board of Australia (DBA) has produced guidelines for CPD. These guidelines are relevant for all dentists, dental therapists, hygienists, specialists, oral health therapists and dental prosthetists. Exemptions are given to practitioners who fall into the following categories: non-practicing registrants, practitioners with limited registration, practitioners about to sit an examination or student registrants.
The DBA encourages dental practitioners to engage in CPD activities each year and accumulate a total of 60 hours over a three-year CPD cycle, 48 hours of scientific content (80%) with a maximum of 20% non-scientific content.
The DBA has also written guidelines on how to choose appropriate CPD activities. The DBA no longer certifies or endorses any CPD courses. It is up to each practitioner to determine the relevance of the CPD activities to undertake.
Some historical recommendations put forth by the DBA include the CPD provider disclosing the monetary or special interests they may have with any company whose products are discussed at the course and the scientific basis of the activity should not be misled by commercial considerations. The training should address contemporary clinical and professional issues and reflect current accepted dental practice whilst based on critical appraisal of the scientific literature. CPD activities should also provide opportunities for enquiry, discussion, and questioning to confirm that you have correctly interpreted the information on offer.
The DBA is also keen to stress that practitioners remain mindful that any single CPD activity may not provide them with enough clinical experience to incorporate new techniques and procedures into practice. Many practitioners have also found this to be true, you may need to perform procedures in a simulated environment many times before you add a new service to your scope of practice.
While these recommendations are relatively comprehensive the onus is still on practitioners to assess the relevance of the CPD activities they participate in. Having said all of that though there is a plethora of CPD activities available in the marketplace.
The function of CPD
When dental practitioners graduate from a training facility their qualification is ratified by the Australian Dental Council (ADC). The conferment of this degree qualification allows the graduate to obtain registration as a dental practitioner with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA.). AHPRA recognises divisions within the practice of dentistry, these practitioner divisions include: dental hygienist (DH), dental therapist (DT), oral health therapist (OHT), dentist, dental specialist, and dental prosthesis.
The scope of practice for each member of the registered dental team depends on their education, qualifications, training, experience, and competence. The DBA expects each individual practitioner to know their own scope of practice, and in quoting the DBA: “Practitioners who wish to broaden their knowledge, expertise and competence may do so by completing continuing professional development (CPD). However, completing CPD is not enough to move from one division of registration to another”
So, what does this mean for DHs and OHTs? If you wish to change your current scope of practice, CPD is the way to do this. The DBA has removed the endorsement of courses which have
previously been used to substantiate a change to scope of practice. The thinking from the DBA behind this change was to bring OHTs, DTs, and DHs in-line with general dentists.
For example, in the event a dentist decides they wish to add the placement of dental implants to their current scope of practice they undertake CPD training to gain this skillset. This CPD training may take the form of many individual CPD events, with the dentist only deciding to add the new procedure to their skillset when they are satisfied that they are suitably educated, trained and competent to do so.
There is no 'Golden Goose', or single determinate of scope of practice for each dental practitioner. Just as many practitioners may have gained a degree from a teaching institution which covered the necessary elements for ‘adult scope' OHT status, the practitioner could well have not performed these skills since graduation, some five years prior. Is the practitioner still scoped to perform these procedures? Another question for each practitioner to ask themselves is; 'Am I educated, trained and competent to do so?' If not, then CPD is required.
The DBA does not offer any differentiation of registration division for dental auxiliaries such as OHTs who may or may not have the implied status of a ‘adult scoped OHT'. This has created a lot of confusion amongst the dental profession. CPD is the only way OHTs can equalise their scope of clinical practice. This CPD opportunity may be delivered by universities and other training organisations, or a culmination of the two. It is important for dental practitioners to remember that The DBA and ADC do not endorse or ratify any CPD courses to change a scope of practice for any dental practitioner, regardless of registration division.
Self-reflective tool, what is the relevance of this in my clinical practice?
The DBA recommends practitioners use the self-reflective tool to assess their current clinical competencies. This tool was created to assist practitioners to reflect on their own individual knowledge and skills relative to their current clinical practice. The DBA advocates the use of this reflective tool especially when individuals are considering the following: Updating or refreshing their current skill set or knowledge base, changes in or around your workplace, when planning your CPD cycle, or when introducing both new technologies and/or treatments into your practice.
The DBA also recommends regular discussions with your dental team to assist in determining how each dental practitioner can best serve their patient base. The team-based approach to dental care is strongly regarded by the DBA, with each member of the team to perform duties that they are educated, trained and competent to do.
The tool focuses on elements which influence scope of practice. These include: - education and training, competence and experience, registration requirements, legislations and regulations and clinical need. Each element has several questions or statements that the practitioner is to reflect on and respond to. The practitioner is to keep a copy of these responses for their own career portfolio.
The full “know your scope, reflective tool”, may be found here – https://www.dentalboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines/Know-your-scope/Resources-to-help-you/Reflective-practice-tool.aspx.
Correct use of the reflective practice tool may assist all dental practitioners to self-determine their current individual scope of practice and their further requirement to participate in continual professional development activities.
What style of CPD is the right one for me?
CPD may be delivered in many formats, whilst most recently CPD has been delivered largely online or virtually. As we all know, dentistry is a highly technical and tactile profession reliant on fine motor skills and well-honed communication techniques. Many of the nuisances required for the delivery of dentistry may not be able to be adequately delivered when relying solely on content delivered virtually. Whilst the current climate of social distancing and lockdowns have provided very limited opportunity for face-to-face transfer of information the reliance on free content delivered by companies selling both dental materials and equipment may prove to provide dental practitioners with a very biased view of contemporary concepts.
Free CPD may well have a place in a practitioners CPD portfolio - pursuing current, reliable information sources from both practicing clinicians and academics who adhere to evidence-based best practice should also be at the forefront of the decision matrix.
Sometimes it can be tempting to compile a list of random CPD hours with very little thought to the purpose for this list of hours. Having a purpose and being self-aware of your own limitations as a clinician should be the starting point for any CPD endeavours. Yes, CPD can be an expensive activity to participate in, but it can also be a very rewarding experience too. Many dental clinicians chose to change career paths, as often they do not have a direct career progression pathway or plan in place. Practicing without a plan for improvement or skill development can prove to be a fatal career move. Changing career paths because you are not satisfied within your current role is a more costly then seeking satisfaction via enhancing your current role or skill set. CPD may be the provide the answer for enhancing your satisfaction within your current profession.
While the Dental Board of Australia determines the number of hours required in each CPD cycle; emphasising the need for 80% of scientific content, the definitive requirement lies in the 'why'?
Why invest time, money, or effort in any endeavours? Is it to satisfy the requirements of DBA to complete the prescribed number of CPD hours, or is it to satisfy your own requirements to be the best clinician you can be? Is merely substantiating the requirements enough for the patients that you serve? Questions that many of us do not ask when contemplating a CPD course.
Let your patients know you have completed the latest and most up to date CPD training. Keep them abreast of the pledge you have made to them via your commitment to continual learning. In our profession it is all too easy to get tunnel vision and only concentrate on what is happening in our surgery at any one given time. It’s not merely about maintaining the current minimum requirements for CPD hours but adhering to the pledge you made to yourself and your patients that you would practice wholeheartedly. If you are still performing procedures the same way you did two, three, or five years ago maybe this is not a full measure of service or commitment.
Creating a yearly planner of CPD events and learning goals for your clinical portfolio is a great way to ensure you are elevating your career to the level you aspire to. Whilst also considering the prescribed number of CPD hours required for the period, the content of this CPD is completely up to the individual practitioner. Your goal may involve enhancing the list of services you perform via adding to your current scope of practice. Alternatively, you may aspire to enrich the services you currently deliver by exploring a different way to perform this service.
The current guidelines from the Dental Board of Australia recommend that practitioners only practice procedures that they are educated, trained, and competent to do so. Listening to presentations delivered by companies selling products, may not satisfy the personal obligation of each individual practitioner to elevate their clinical skills. Dental hygienists and Oral Health therapists have scientific minds capable of complex reasoning and seeking CPD that resonates with this is imperative moving forward.
Elevating the profession of dental hygiene and oral health therapy through a continued commitment to excellence, both in clinical skill and communication whilst investing your time and efforts wisely in your CPD undertakings could deliver exceptional treatment outcomes for those you serve.
