DT News - UK - General Dental Council publishes systematic CPD literature review

Dental Tribune UK

Tue. 15 January 2019

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LONDON, UK: As part of its commitment to creating a better and fairer system of dental regulation, the General Dental Council (GDC) has published a systematic literature review on continuing professional development (CPD). The research is designed to help further develop CPD systems and regulations that are evidenced-based and focused on the future of dentistry.

The review covered more than 800 papers and data from 184 publications and was supplemented by a survey circulated to experts in relevant research areas. Among the review’s findings were that there has been a clear shift from regulators, both inside and outside of the health industry, towards qualitative-based CPD models and away from quantitative-based versions that focus on the number of CPD hours completed. This shift is likely due to the relative inability of quantitative-based models to improve performance or patient care.

In addition, the review found that take-up of CPD is primarily driven by its perceived relevance to patients or practice, and benefits from the inclusion of interactive elements.

“Following the successful introduction of enhanced CPD in 2018 which made the first steps towards a more meaningful approach to lifelong learning in dentistry, we needed a clear and robust evidence base to provide the grounding for the next stage of CPD development,” said the GDC’s Head of Regulatory Intelligence, David Teeman.

“This systematic review of literature provides just that ahead of the development work taking place early this year and, ultimately, our planned wider engagement with stakeholders on the further developments to CPD this summer,” he continued.

The GDC commissioned the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) to undertake the research for the review, which was carried out from June to October 2018. “Our work demonstrates that there is much change in how CPD is being recognised and managed by different professional groups, across healthcare and non-healthcare sectors,” said Prof. Jonathan Cowpe, project lead at ADEE.

“It recognises the general shift seems to be away from simply counting CPD hours, towards increasingly robust processes that are more concerned with how ongoing education makes a difference to practice,” he explained.

The review, titled A Review of the Literature on Continuing Professional Development (CPD), can be found on the GDC’s website.

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