What activities automatically account for CPD?

CPD Guidelines

How will I know the CPD activity is verified?

Guidelines for organisers wanting to apply for CPD verification

Statement regarding CPD approved courses NOT approved by the NZIDT

Verification Guidelines for Publications

Contacts

CPD Verification

Please visit the NZIDT Database to have CPD approved (See "Database" button at left)

What activities automatically account for CPD?

If the course is run by or has been approved by a DCNZ approved CPD provider/verifier (e.g. NZDA, NZDHA, NZDTA, and some DHBs) then the course is approved for dental technicians and clinical dental technicians, provided that the topic is relevant to your competencies and learning objectives and related to your scope of practice.

CPD Guidelines

What is the purpose of CPD?

The principal purpose of the HPCA Act 2003 is to protect public safety by ensuring practitioner competence. The Act provides the Council with mechanisms to ensure that dental technicians are competent and fit to practice, not just at the point of registration, but on an ongoing basis. The issue of a practicing certificate each year is no longer automatic upon receipt of payment. The Council must now be satisfied that dental technicians have maintained their competence and fitness before they are recertified to practise through the issue of the annual practising certificate. As such Council will be requiring all practising dental technicians to participate in continuing professional development (CPD) activities including peer contact with dental technicians/clinical dental technicians and other dental professionals.

What is verifiable CPD?

CPD may be classed as verifiable if the participant is able to provide some form of external documentary verification of attendance or participation and the activity or the provider has been approved for verifiable CPD purposes. This can take the form of an approved course / workshop or peer contact activity (Refer to the DTB policy on verifiable CPD).
Types of activities that may count as verifiable CPD include:

• Postgraduate courses leading to a degree, diploma or certificate relevant to dental practice
• Scientific lectures, seminars, and other educational programme including the educational components of professional association (e.g. NZIDT) and specialist society meetings, together with conferences and events which are approved or provided by approved CPD or recertification providers or accredited educational providers
• Peer group learning activities, which are provided by, approved providers or has been approved by the relevant workforce board for verifiable CPD purposes
• Hands on educational programmes.
• Interactive peer contact, study groups and similar activities with written aims and a structured programme of activities.
• Learning with verifiable outcomes using audio, video, CD ROM, Internet and other similar material.
• Preparation and publication of a scientific paper or similar publication in a refereed publication.
• Preparation and presentation of a scientific paper, Continuing Professional Development course or similar activity that has been approved as a verifiable Continuing Professional Development activity.

What are the Peer Contact Requirements?

Peer contact means regular interactive contact with peers with the specific objective of professional development. A peer is someone who is registered as an oral health practitioner. Peer groups should consist of those in the same scope of practice but may include those from different scopes. Peer groups may therefore include other registered oral health practitioners such as dental technicians, clinical dental technicians, dental therapists, dental hygienists, dentists and others affiliated to dentistry such as practice managers and dental assistants (Refer to the DTB policy on peer contact requirements for CPD).

How will I know the CPD activity is verified?

All providers i.e. NZIDT and dental supply companies should clearly advertise the activity as CPD verifiedon all advertising and material.
The number of hours should be allocated and confirmed prior to the CPD activity being run.
When you attend a CPD activityyou should receive a Certificate of Attendance.

What are the CPD requirements?

The DCNZ has changed the period for the CPD cycle to the following:

·       The CPD programme is run on a 4 yearly cycle with the exception of the 1st period, which is 5 years.
·       1st period: April 2005 – 31 Dec 2009 (a total of 56 hours of verified CPD for this 5 year period)
·       2nd Period: 31 Dec 2009 – 31 Dec 2013 (a total of 80 hours of verified CPD for this 4 year period)
·       Subsequent periods will be four-year cycles, with 80 hours of verified CPD being required for each 4-year period.

NOTE: The DCNZ has requested the NZIDT input in relation to CPD requirements. There are a number of issues the NZIDT will raise – The high number of CPD hours required for Dental Technicians and Clinical Dental Technicians will be the main concern raised. It is hoped that the number of CPD hours required will be reduced. In particular the required hours for Dental Technicians. Any changes will be communicated by the DCNZ and are likely only to effect the next CPD period.

Please Note: The minimum or maximum number of hours of peer group activities within the overall CPD program is still to be decided; however, you are required to take part in peer group activities as part of your verified CPD.
What do I need to do?

• Keep a detailed record of all verifiable hours including proof of attendance i.e. receipts, certificates.
• DTs and CDTs will need to keep detailed records and/or summary sheets, but will only have to present these to the Board if they are selected for a compliance audit.
• It is recommended that you keep your records up to date on a regular basis.

The NZIDT’s CPD verification process for organisers of CPD activities

The NZIDT’s CPD Sub-Committee require the following information:

• details of the CPD event organiser;
• event or course title, format (e.g. lecture, workshop, distance-learning module), and an outline of content and/or a copy of the programme;
• its duration (including that of individual segments if there are several activities in the programme, e.g. lecture followed by a facilitated question and discussion session);
• name and brief resume of each presenter (100 words maximum);
• title and abstract of each presentation (100 words maximum);
• number of CPD hours to be accredited.
• a copy of the proposed certificate of attendance

For distance education, the NZIDT’s CPD Sub-Committee will require samples of study materials and assessment questions, and may request full sets of the resource material for extended programs.
CPD hours will be awarded on the basis of educational quality and time for activity.
Product launches, marketing sessions, and business management courses do not constitute CPD, although (for example) a session on management of patient records would be eligible for verification, and a product launch accompanied by an educational session applicable to wider clinical practice may also be considered.
Applications should be forwarded to your regional NZIDT CPD Sub-committee member at least 30 days prior to the intended start date. The Sub-committee may need to request additional information when, for example, the Continuing Education provider or the presenters do not have an established record of accredited programme delivery. Verification will not be granted until all information sought has been supplied.
Please note: Organisers must;

• provide each attendee with a record of their attendance;
• notify NZIDT if the delivery, duration or content of the programme differed from what was originally specified.

Statement regarding CPD approved courses NOT approved by the NZIDT

The New Zealand Institute of Dental Technologists Continuing Professional Development Sub-Committee can only comment on courses they have approved. If a course is approved by another organisation the below information is provided. For other CPD activities that are not mentioned below and have already been completed you are directed to the Dental Technicians Board for confirmation of CPD suitability. If the CPD activity is still being planned then the organiser can apply to the NZIDT for the course to be verified.

A general guideline is that if it is relevant to your profession and has been approved by an oral health care CPD Provider (e.g. NZIDT) then it automatically counts as CPD. But, if you attend a CPD activity that is either (1) not relevant or (2) is not approved by a CPD Provider then it is likely that it will not be able to be used as CPD.

Verification Guidelines for Publications

The overriding guideline is that the material published needs to be relevant to the area of practice of a dental technician or a clinical dental technician.

There are two categories refereed (peer-reviewed) or non-refereed (non-peer reviewed)

Awarding of CPD hours:

Refereed (peer-reviewed) Journal:
1st author of a published article in a refereed (peer reviewed) journal receives 10-hours CPD, and additional authors would receive 5-hours each.

Non-refereed (non-peer reviewed):
Author/s of a non-referred (non-peer reviewed) journal receive 4-hours total to be shared between all authors as they wish. For example if there are 3 authors and one author is given 2 hours the other two authors only receive 1 hour each. This is up to the authors to decide.

Process:
To apply for CPD for a publication a copy of the published article has to be provided to the NZIDT CPD Sub-committee for assessment.

Note:

• Refereed journals have a process by which articles are required to meet academic standards and are reviewed by other professionals. These journals enforce scientific rigor with justifications of claims needing to be proven, and correct referencing of source material. Literature reviews and sound scientific methodology are key features of these kinds of articles.

• Non-refereed journal typically do not enforce academic rigor. There is typically no vetting of the article other than the editor of the journal. These publications do not typically have any requirement for the author to prove scientifically any claims. They typically do not meet academic requirements, like citing and referencing of source material.

Contacts for CPD Sub-committee:

Representatives:
Upper North Island – Ian mercer: pip.arnold@xtra.co.nz
Lower North Island – Craig Metcalfe: craigmetcalfe@xtra.co.nz
South Island –John Aarts: john.aarts@dent.otago.ac.nz
Chair – John Aarts:

Electronic addresses (including email accounts and telephone accounts) published on this page are for the sole purpose of contact with the individuals concerned, in their capacity as members of the New Zealand Institute of Dental Technology. Publication of any such electronic address is not to be taken as consent to receive unsolicited commercial electronic messages by the address holder.

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