Continuing Competence Program Update

The Continuing Competence Program (CCP) is legislated to exist to maintain the competence of and enhance the provision of professional services by regulated members. The College’s CCP is outlined in the Denturists Profession Regulation and legally provides that:

• A regulated member must complete 100 hours of continuing education in five-year cycles in accordance with the CCP Rules approved by Council
• Of these 100 hours, 10 may be taken to promote the personal or non-clinical development of the regulated member
• The activities must be submitted to the College

As these pieces are legislated, they are not in a position to be changed at this time.  And so, Council, the Registration Committee and staff look to modernize the program within the boundaries of the law.  An updated set of CCP Rules will be released to the membership by the end of the year.

There are two areas of the CCP which are seeing the biggest change:

I. Historically, all regulated members have had to submit all of their continuing competence activities to the Registrar for approval. This has, over the years, transitioned from a proactive to a reactive approval.  In this, there is no substantive or educational value provided to the member.

Starting with the 2020 renewal, the College is initiating a two-phased approach to validate regulated members’ CCP compliance.

1. At renewal, the Registrar will look into a regulated member’s record to verify that they have recorded the minimum number of hours required by the legislation and the Rules to be eligible for renewal of their practice permit. This is purely a quantitative measure and the Registrar will not be evaluating the substance or relevance of your entries.  If the regulated member attests that they have met the requirements of the CCP for that year and the Registrar can see that they have recorded the appropriate number of hours, it will be considered that the member has met the CCP requirements for renewal.  If either of these parts are not met, further information will be sought from the member.
2. Each spring, a random sample of regulated members will be chosen by a computer to undergo a qualitative audit of their CCP. In this, the Registration Committee will be granted access by the member to evaluate the relevance of the member’s learning in relation to their role as a denturist. Proof of learning will be required to be submitted by the member for each activity.  This may be in the form of a certificate or transcript or, if neither of those are available nor an option, in the form of a self-reflection.

In moving to a validation system, the College is putting trust in the members.  This process change is not meant to be a threat, but actually the exact opposite.  It is reliant on member’s professionalism and honesty to be effective and of value to the members and the College.

II. Up until now, in order for members to use their learning for their CCP, they have had to be able to provide hard, formal proof in the form of a certificate, diploma, transcript or the like. This requirement does not align with some of the principles in adult learning.

One of the biggest challenges in being a regulated healthcare professional in completing our CCP hours is not the actual learning; but, recognizing that we are learning.  In any health profession, you cannot go a day without learning something – whether it be a new software application, a technique to make your life or the patient’s easier or something as simple as trying to better understand your patient’s circumstance or pathology, learning is constant.  As healthcare providers, we simply don’t make that connection – it’s just what we do in our role, because we value what we do and want the best for our patients, our colleagues and our businesses.  Chances are this intermittent or daily learning is not accompanied by a certificate or any kind of proof, other than the fact that you know you have learned something that is valuable to your professional practice.

In recognition for this informal, yet highly valuable, learning, the College will accept a self-reflection as “proof” of your learning in lieu of a certificate or transcript. A self-reflection is a statement or a couple of sentences that explain how what you learned has or may have impact on your practice.  It explains how what you learned is relevant to what you do in your role as a denturist. In a self-reflection, it is always valuable to include a specific example.

Examples:

Activity: I took a QuickBooks course online through…

• Self-reflection: I am implementing QuickBooks in my clinic and now I am able to facilitate payment more efficiently to my vendors

Activity: I attended the NAIT precepting course

• Self-reflection: I have a third-year denturist student in my clinic and now I am able to provide them with effective feedback in alignment with what NAIT requires.

Activity: I researched xerostomia treatments

• Self-reflection: I am now able to provide information and options for patients who I see with xerostomia

More information will be provided this fall. in the meantime, should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Dacia at drichmond@abdenturists.ca.