Continuing Dental Education The Dental Continuing Educational (CE) team provides a variety of courses covering all areas of dentistry. These include a mixture of all day, half day and evening events as well as in-practice sessions to suit the requirements and needs of all of the profession. All courses provided by NIMDTA’s CE team meet the GDC requirements for enhanced CPD. We provide courses
- In response to new and current legislation and guidance
- In response to your evaluations and feedback
- To assist all dental professionals to comply with regulatory bodies standards
- To stimulate interest in new methods and modes of working
- To encourage all dental members to meet, discuss and learn from their mentors and peers
Meet The NIMDTA Dental CE Team
Dental Continuing Education Co-ordinator Stacy Topping
As a registered dental nurse I have experience working in general practice, hospital dentistry and also within the community dental service. I have a passion for dental nurse education delivering the NEBDN national diploma in dental nursing, alongside the NEBDN post qualifications; I continue to examine for the national examining board for these qualifications. I have a keen interest in providing educational programmes to upskill the dental care professional workforce. I work within the team assisting the planning of the continuing education calendar. I hope to see you at one of our courses.
Dental Training Manager Katie Symington
As Dental Training Manager I am responsible for the day to day management of the Dental Department in NIMDTA; overseeing Continuing Professional Development, the Dental Foundation Scheme and Dental Trainees working within a Hospital setting. I hope you find the courses detailed within this booklet beneficial in meeting your CPD requirements. Please do not hesitate to contact the dental administration team if we can help to answer any queries that you may have.
Dental Executive Officer Kiri McLaughlin
I have worked in the Dental CE department permanently from 2009. I assist David & Amanda in the planning of the CPD calendars and oversee the day-to-day running of these. I have a special interest in Mental Health as a trained counsellor and deliver safeTALK Alert programme with Amanda. Please contact me with any queries you may have in relation to our courses programme and booking system.
In-Practice education
The best place for many topics to be delivered to all the dental team is in the practice setting where dental care is actually provided. It makes sense therefore to locate learning within that setting. For some practices it is easier to organise training and education in the practice rather than the practice team having to attend meetings at various locations. The practice will require facilities suitable for the training event.
To organise an in-practice CPD event please contact dentalcourses.nimdta@hscni.net
Please remember however that learning from and with your peers is also vitally important.
All NIMDTA’s Dental CPD courses held on the Intrepid Course Manager system will include aims, objectives, learning outcomes and GDC development outcomes as per GDC guidance and these can be booked and paid for online.
Course Manager can only be accessed here
Registration
Any member of the dental team will be able to use the system. Initially you will need to register as a delegate before you can access any of the courses. Registration is straightforward and achieved by following the instructions on screen or by using the delegate guide.
Online Evaluations and Certificates
Following attendance at any of the Dental CPD Courses delegates will be asked to provide feedback. This is completed online through the personal login details under ‘My Course Evaluations’.
Receiving constructive evaluations for courses that have been attended helps not only the speakers delivering the course, to ensure that they are providing good quality information but also provides NIMDTA with vital information regarding the courses as a whole.
Once the online evaluation has been completed delegates can then access their Certificate of Attendance and download for keeping in their professional portfolio.
Current Available Courses
All courses currently available are live on the Course Manager system and can be found using the search facility within the system.
Additional information on the current courses (if available) can be found within the documents section.
Future Courses
Please keep an eye on the system for any new future courses. Our Dental Adviser and Tutor are currently working on the programme for April – June 2020.
Email correspondence will also be sent out when new courses are added.
If you have any problems with the registration, payment or booking of a course you are interested in then please do contact us at dentalcourses.nimdta@hscni.net or ring on 028 95360221 and we will be happy to guide you through the process.
Please note, some of our courses may be supported by commercial companies, however NIMDTA does not endorse the products, equipment or materials provided by these companies.
CPDA Any Dentist who is eligible to claim CPD Allowance should complete the new claims form available from the BSO website.
GDC Requirements
The enhanced CPD scheme started on 1st January 2018 for dentists and 1st August 2018 for dental care professionals.
The main changes to the scheme are:
- The requirement for all dental professionals to have a personal development plan (PDP);
- An increase in the number of verifiable hours for most professional titles and the requirement to spread the hours more evenly across the five year cycle;
- Dental professionals no longer have to declare non-verifiable CPD to the GDC;
- The requirement to make an annual statement of CPD hours completed, even if zero hours have been completed for that year;
- The requirement to align CPD activity with specific development outcomes;
- The requirement for professionals to plan CPD activity according to their individual “field(s) of practice”.The Hours Requirement
- Depending on your registrant title, you must do a certain minimum number of hours of verifiable CPD for each five year cycle, as set out below. You may continue to do non-verifiable CPD, however all hours submitted to the GDC must be verifiable.
- Dental professionals are strongly advised familiarise themselves with the GDC’s guidance document to understand their CPD obligations for maintaining registration. The guidance document gives dental professionals all the information they need to know, to understand the requirements of the CPD scheme over their CPD cycle.
| Registrant title | Minimum hours of verifiable CPD per five year cycle |
| Dentists | 100 |
| Dental therapists | 75 |
| Dental hygienists | 75 |
| Orthodontic therapists | 75 |
| Clinical dental technicians | 75 |
| Dental nurses | 50 |
| Dental technicians | 50 |
FAQs relating to CPD are also available on the GDC website.
FAQs relating to Enhanced CPD are also available on the GDC website.