CPD for dental professionals working overseas

This advice sheet is for dentists or DCPs who are on one of our dental Registers, but who are currently living or working overseas.

In you are working overseas, you need to comply with the CPD requirements to remain on the Register.

The requirement

All dentists are required to complete, and keep records of, 250 hours of CPD over every five-year cycle with at least 75 of these hours being verifiable CPD. All DCPs are required to complete, and keep records of, 150 hours of CPD over every five-year cycle with at least 50 of these hours being verifiable CPD.You must decide what kinds of activity, in your professional judgement, will best assist your professional development.

Verifiable CPD

The UK CPD scheme divides CPD into two categories: verifiable CPD and general CPD. Verifiable CPD is defined as CPD which meets all four of the following criteria:

1. It has concise educational aims and objectives;
2. It has clear anticipated outcomes;
3. It has quality controls (i.e. you should be given the opportunity to give feedback on what you thought of the activity)
4. You must obtain and keep documentary proof of your attendance/participation in the activity e.g. a course certificate, or letter from the course provider, and ensure that the number of hours of CPD activity is clearly stated on this proof.

General CPD

General CPD is activity which does not meet all four of the above criteria, but which is nonetheless of benefit to your continuing professional development. Examples of general CPD might include journal reading and private study.

Recording CPD

You must record the CPD you undertake to meet the requirements of the UK scheme. The GDC has designed a recording form which you may use, but you can also use records you are keeping to meet a local CPD scheme (see below), so long as you ensure that the following details are recorded:

• Your name and five-digit UK General Dental Council registration number
• Date of your course/activity
• Title of course/activity
• Venue of activity (where appropriate)
• The name of the course provider (either an organisation or an individual)
• Whether or not you are counting the activity as verifiable CPD or general CPD under the UK scheme
• The number of CPD hours you spent on the activity (please note that the UK scheme requires you to record hours spent, not credits or points).

These records must be kept in addition to documentary evidence of verifiable CPD.

Download a copy of the GDC CPD recording form or email us at gdcregistration@gdc-uk.org for a copy in Word format, which you can save and use on your PC.

Other CPD schemes

You may be undertaking CPD in the country in which you are resident, as part of a "local" CPD scheme e.g. the South African or Singaporian CPD scheme. If this is the case, you can count activity you undertake for these schemes towards the UK scheme. However, you must make sure that you consider whether or not the activity meets the criteria for verifiable CPD under the UK scheme before recording it as such. Otherwise, you will have to record the activity as general CPD.

You must make sure that you get documentary proof of anything you want to count as verifiable CPD, and you must record the number of hours you spent on the activity. If your local CPD scheme operates by allocating credits or points to activities, you will need to make a note of the hours you spent on those activities as well, for the UK scheme.

You must ask course providers for documentary proof of your attendance/participation for verifiable CPD, especially if they do not normally issue proof of attendance. Please ask providers to contact us at gdcregistration@gdc-uk.org if they have any queries about this.

How will the UK General Dental Council monitor my compliance with the UK requirements?

Each year within the five-year CPD cycle, we will write to you to ask you to fill in an annual statement of the CPD hours (both verifiable CPD and general CPD) that you have completed that year.

At the end of Year 5 of each cycle, we will be selecting individuals at random and asking them to submit their CPD records (and documentary proof of verifiable CPD) to us for audit. If it appears to the Registrar that you have failed to comply with the requirements, you may be removed from the Register.

Summary

• Your compulsory CPD start-date depends on the date you were first registered in the UK;
• You must complete at least the minimum number of hours of CPD required over each five-year cycle;
• You must keep documentary proof of any CPD you want to count as verifiable CPD under the UK scheme;
• You must keep records of all the CPD that you do, up to the minimum hour requirement. Your CPD records will be your evidence that you have complied with the scheme requirements;
• It is up to you to decide what CPD activities would be of most benefit to your patients and to you professionally;
• You should not send us your CPD records for audit unless we ask you to do so.

Dentists on a career break who are not currently registered should read the CPD requirements for restoration to the Dentists Register.