What you need to know about continuing professional development (CPD)

As a registered dental professional, you have a duty to keep up to date with your skills and knowledge in order to give patients the best possible treatment and care. CPD is compulsory, but ideally it should simply set out a formal framework for what you are already doing. Here’s what that means in practice, in five straightforward steps:

• Step 1 - Make sure you know your compulsory CPD start date 
• Step 2 - Make sure you understand how many hours of CPD you’re required to do
• Step 3 - Plan your CPD activities to meet the requirement
• Step 4 - Record your CPD
• Step 5 – Every year, fill in a statement of the CPD hours you’ve completed,
  

Step 1 - Make sure you know your compulsory CPD start date

Your start date for CPD depends on the date you were first registered in the UK, as follows:

DCPs

Dentists

This start date represents the beginning of your first five-year cycle of CPD. So for example, the first CPD cycle for a dental nurse whose start date is 1 August 2008 will run from 1 August 2008 - 31 July 2013. The second CPD cycle will begin on 1 August 2013, and so on.

You cannot count CPD you did before your compulsory start date towards the first five-year cycle

Step 2 - Make sure you understand how many hours of CPD you're required to do

DCPs - you must complete, and keep records of, at least 150 hours of CPD over five years. A minimum of 50 of these hours must be verifiableCPD (see below for what counts as verifiable).

Dentists - you must complete, and keep records of, at least 250 hours of CPD over five years. A minimum of 75 of these hours must be verifiable CPD.

What is verifiable CPD

To count as verifiable CPD, an activity must have:

1. concise educational aims and objectives;
2. clear anticipated outcomes; and
3. quality controls (i.e. you should be given the opportunity to give feedback); and

Additionally, you must obtain and keep documentary proof (e.g. a certificate) of your attendance/participation from an appropriate third party (e.g. the activity provider/organiser). Download a sample certificate for verifiable CPD (PDF)

Whether or not the activity has quality controls and whether you'll be able to get documentary proof of your attendance/participation are both matters of fact; either there is an opportunity to give feedback and documentary proof is provided, or not. But the questions of whether the activity has concise educational aims and objectives and clear anticipated outcomes are matters on which you must satisfy yourself, using your own professional judgement.

What is general CPD?

General CPD activities are those which contribute to your professional development as a dentist or dental care professional, but don't meet all four of the criteria above for verifiable CPD. Examples might include journal reading and private study.

Step 3 - Plan your CPD activities to meet the requirement

CPD is defined as study, training, courses, seminars, reading and other activities undertaken by you, which could reasonably be expected to advance your professional development as a dentist or dental care professional. Non-clinical activity can count as CPD.

When choosing activities to undertake to meet the requirements, you should always ask yourself "Does this activity contribute towards my continuing professional development as a dental professional?"

We recommend that dentists and DCPs should carry out CPD in core recommended subjects.

Examples of potential CPD activities

You might consider the following activities to count towards your CPD. The list is not exhaustive:

• Courses and lectures
• Vocational Training or General Professional Training study days
• Educational elements of professional and specialist society meetings
• Peer review and clinical audit
• Distance learning
• Multimedia learning
• Staff training
• Background research
• Private study
• Journal reading
• Attending conferences

If you're a vocational trainee, your training can count towards CPD when your CPD cycle begins.

The following are examples of organisations that you can contact who either provide or can direct you to providers of both verifiable and general CPD.  The list is also far from exhaustive and there are a number of other providers not listed.  The GDC does not accredit or endorse these or any other CPD providers:

• Your indemnity or insurance provider
• Postgraduate Dental Deaneries 
• Professional associations:

British Dental Association - www.bda.org
Faculty of General Dental Practioners - www.fdgp.org.uk
British Association of Dental Nurses - www.badn.org
Dental Laboratories Association - www.dla.org.uk
Clinical Dental Technicians Association - www.cdta.org.uk
British Association of Dental Therapists - www.badt.org.uk
Dental Technologists Association - www.dta-uk.org
British Dental Practice Managers' Association - www.bdpma.org.uk
British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy - www.bdha.org.uk
Orthodontic Technicians Association - www.orthota.co.uk 

There are a number of commercial providers of CPD: you can find them on the internet.  Additionally dental journals may provide CPD or advertise ways in which you can complete CPD.

Remember: if the activity doesn't meet every one of the four criteria listed above, you will not be able to count it as verifiable CPD, but may still be able to count it towards your general CPD.

Step 4 - Record your CPD

If you want your CPD to count towards your requirement, you must record it whether it is verifiable CPD or general CPD. You can use the GDC recording form (PDF download) for this.

You do not have to use the GDC form for your CPD records, but whatever method you use, you should ensure that you record:

• Your name and GDC registration number
• Date of course/activity
• Title of course/activity
• Venue (where appropriate)
• The name of the organisation or individual running the course/activity
• Indicate whether you are counting the activity as verifiable CPD or general CPD
• The number of hours you spent doing the CPD activity (you should not include lunch breaks or travel time)

Remember: an additional requirement for verifiable CPD is that you obtain and keep a certificate as proof that you took part in the activity (see above). You might find it helpful to record your verifiable CPD and general CPD on separate sheets, so that activities for which you will need a certificate are readily identifiable.

Step 5 - Every year, fill in a statement of the CPD hours you've completed

At the end of every year in each five-year cycle, the GDC will write to you and ask you to fill in a form with a declaration of CPD hours (both verifiable and general) that you have completed that year. Do not send any evidence supporting your declaration. We will write to you if this is required.  When making the declaration for the final year of your cycle you will be asked to confirm the previous years declarations. Filling in an annual statement is a legal obligation.

Checklist

• Check your start date for the compulsory CPD scheme
• Plan how you will meet the minimum hours of CPD requirement
• Decide on a recording format for your CPD activity (e.g. GDC recording form)
• Consider keeping separate records for general CPD and verifiable CPD
• Ask yourself "does this activity contribute towards my continuing professional development?"
• For verifiable CPD, check that the criteria have been met and ensure that you have documentary proof of participation, for example a certificate
• Review your activity regularly to ensure you will meet the minimum requirements
• Do not send any recording forms or documentary proof to the GDC unless we ask.

If you have any further questions about how the CPD requirements affect you: