Dentists have an ethical obligation to engage in Continuing Oral & Dental Education throughout their practicing careers; update their skills and knowledge so that the public will be provided with sustained quality patient care.
Continuing Oral and Dental Education CODE focuses on updating knowledge by providing tools to the dental professionals to go further, perform better and put their stamp on the future of dentistry. CODE is defined in law as activity which contributes to professional development and is relevant to practice.
CODE means, any activity in terms of lecture, demonstration, hands-on experience, training for dental professionals and para-dental staff resulting in imparting, improvement, enhancement, accentuate and advanced knowledge affecting knowledge, skill and attitude of dental professionals for the betterment of patient care and professionalism. These are designed to review existing concepts and techniques, convey information beyond the basic dental education, update knowledge on advances in scientific, clinical and non-clinical practice including evidence based dentistry.
'CODE providers' include all DCI/MCI recognized teaching institutions having Dental Departments, Government Bodies, and Defence Section. CODE providers such as professional associations and National Dental Specialty Associations, will need to apply to the CODE Secretariat for award of CODE points for meetings and conferences held under their aegis and this approval will be valid for a period of 5 years, subject to review.
After completing the traditional education for oral health care profession, dental professionals must engage in CODE activities to stay up-to-date and rapidly adopt proven advances. CODE is designed to address the causes of the gaps which improve clinical practice, patient care and outcomes by including a commitment to life-long learning, and an emphasis on professional ethics and moral responsibility.
CODE has been proven effective at improving patient outcomes and public oral health. CODE ensures that the best evidence is known, understood and practiced by dental professionals.
It takes an average of 17 years for new research to be broadly accepted in clinical dental practice taking into consideration scientific evidence, availability and cost, laws and regulations, and the need for training. CODE accelerates this process by evaluating and synchronization the new knowledge for the busy dental practitioner.
Dental professionals committed to lifelong learning must take advantage of CODE opportunities provided at national and local meetings, and through online, print and other forms of media.
The purpose of CODE is continually to develop professional competence and form an integral part of lifelong learning. CODE develops competence for what you are doing now and what you need to do to meet changing demands. CODE is an ongoing process that will allow you to adapt your changing needs and those of your dental clinic. It is important to understand that CODE is a personal experience.
Aspects of an effective CODE programme include continuing education, audit, writing, learning from experience, learning from colleagues, teaching, problem solving and critical incident analysis – to name a few.
Accredited Continuing Oral & Dental Education Programme (ACODE) Governing Board has published a set of standards for education, which is used as a regulatory framework. The standards cover four areas that education programmes are expected to meet and these are central to the ACODE Governing Board's quality assurance process:
Patients in the long-term will benefit from CODE as it should lead to an improvement in Oral health. This is indisputably a rewarding outcome to result from establishing and maintaining a high-quality CODE system.
The Credit points shall be awarded as follows:
Notes:
Exemptions
The CODE cycle is the quantity of CPD that a dentist is advised or required to undertake in a given time.
Two factors are important in this regard:
Records should be maintained of CODE activities and the credit points accumulated by each dentist. These can be maintained by individual dentists or, where a renewal of registration requires evidence of CODE activities. Administrators will be needed to maintain these records.
So far as it is possible in each individual circumstance, this process should be as automated as possible and require the minimum of administrative input. Electronic systems operate at many major scientific conferences where CODE credits are awarded. Not withstanding such automation some administrative and technical support will be necessary and should be planned for at the start.
One prime reason for having compulsory CODE requirements is so that professional administration can maintain high standards of care and professional service throughout the profession. In order to do that there is an obligation upon the profession to demonstrate clearly the current standards of care and professional service that should be provided and an obligation on dentists to demonstrate a continuing capacity to provide such standards of care and professional service.
The next step in making it a requirement for continuing professional registration is to be a simple administrative device. This can be introduced by a registration of renewal to put pressure on individual dental professionals who for whatever reason may be reluctant to participate in CODE activities directed at them to maintain the standards required.
This means an activity must meet all four of the following conditions.
Participant must receive & store a certificate proving participation in the activity. The certificate should come from the provider and should show the number of hours spent on the activity.
All dentists should attend as part of the overall 150-hour minimum verifiable CPD requirement for five years.
Bar Code at Entry and Exit level
The Organization shall submit the entire data of the attendees to the State Dental Councils within a month of the programme, otherwise the allocated Credit Points will not be valid.
Certification for those who complete certain number of hours in a particular year.
Provider will issue a certificate of attendance to the attendees, as per the approved CODE activity. The Certification is only for a testimonial for attendance and Credit Points.