Our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme supports NZIDT members to advance their professional knowledge and skills. The programme offers as a structured approach to learning, with the aim of ensuring the highest standards of professional competence are maintained in practice and service delivery. CPD can involve either formal and structured or informal and self-directed learning.
The Dental Council of New Zealand sets a minimum number of hours of professional development activities (PDA) per annual recertification cycle. This is currently set at a minimum of 10 hours for dental technicians and 15 hours for clinical dental technicians.
https://dcnz.org.nz/i-practise-in-new-zealand/new-recertification-programme/
What is verifiable CPD?
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) can involve either formal and structured or informal and self-directed learning.
Types of PDA
- Postgraduate courses leading to a degree, diploma or certificate relevant to dental practice
- Scientific lectures, seminars and other educational programmes, including the educational components of professional associations, together with conferences and events which are approved CPD providers or accredited educational providers
- Peer group learning activities provided by approved CPD providers
- 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, internet and other similar material.
- Publication of a scientific paper or similar in a refereed periodical
- Presentation of a scientific paper, CPD course or similar that has been approved as a verifiable
First Aid requirements
Medical Emergencies Certificate often wrongly called a first aid certificate (current) to the level required by technician’s scope is mandatory.
- Clinical dental technicians are required to have a CORE INTERMEDIATE or equivalent level certificate.
- Dental technicians undertaking restricted activities e.g., shade taking, are required to have a CORE BASIC or equivalent certificate.
- For medical emergencies, the practice standard is on the DCNZ website.
- Medical emergencies practice standard
Resuscitation training
To determine equivalence, for dental technicians and clinical dental technicians the training should at minimum cover the following components:
| Airway management | Adult collapse |
| Manual airway opening | Adult collapse management plan |
| Airway suction | Team scenario practice for adult collapse |
| Oropharyngeal airway insertion | Use of Automatic External Defibrillation |
| Mouth to mask ventilation | Choking/ Airway obstruction |
| One person bag-mask ventilation | Management of anaphylaxis |
| Two person bag-mask ventilation | Acute coronary syndrome, Epileptic seizure, Faint (syncope) |
| Oxygen delivery | Hyper/Hypoglycaemia, Hyperventilation, Maternal collapse |
The practitioners can specially ask the course provider for a practical demonstration on how to safely administer Oxygen.
We encourage you to read the following document for details to ensure you are compliant.
Please refer to the Dental Councils Medical Emergencies in Dental Practice-Practice Standard pages 5-6 for fuller details of resuscitation training requirements.Steps to keeping on top of your CPD requirements
- Know how many CPD hours you need to do
- Find relevant verifiable courses to cover that and book in.
- If you are looking to hold or organise a course or do some personal CPD work check out the Verifiable CPD Entitlement section for further details or go directly to the CPD Provider Application page.
- Print off or save to your computer and complete the continuing professional development record (see below) to keep a track for yourself.
Continuing Professional Development record word documentContinuing Professional Development record pdf