Update 05 July 2020: CPD Restrictions and Sedation Reendorsement.
To all ASDA Members and other Endorsed Dental Sedationists,
Please see the below correspondence from Dr Murray Thomas, the Chair of the Dental Board of Australia regarding CPD requirements for sedation reendorsement during the COVID-19 emergency response.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 Emergency Response, travel restrictions, social distancing requirements and the ongoing risk of transmission of COVID19 in situations such as the hands-on reendorsement training, ASDA has cancelled all its reendorsement programs for 2020.
Should this situation persist, AHPRA will not take any action for the registration period during which the COVID-19 emergency response is in force.
This means that ALREADY endorsed sedationists will not lose their endorsement if they are not able to do the reendorsement training prior to renewal of their registration.
Should the situation improve and reendorsement programs are able to be re-instituted, we will give members plenty of notice and opportunity to do the reendorsement training. However, due to the ongoing nature of this emergency, it seems unlikely to occur in 2020.
We are currently hoping to begin our reendorsement program again in 2021.
We stand with you during this crisis and hope that if any of you are in need of assistance, you reach out to your society for help.
Kind regards,
Greg Mahoney
President, Australian Society of Dental Anaesthesiology (ASDA)
Complying with the CPD requirements of endorsement
Dr Murray Thomas
Chair, Dental Board of Australia
Complying with the CPD requirements of endorsement
16 June 2020
Your endorsement to practise conscious sedation and CPD requirements during COVID-19
As a registered dental practitioner holding an endorsement to practise conscious sedation, you have a professional obligation to meet the continuing professional development (CPD) requirements for practice under the Endorsement for conscious sedation registration standard.
As you know, the standard requires practitioners to provide documented evidence to the Dental Board of Australia (the Board) that they have successfully completed Board approved and competency based courses in dental sedation and medical emergencies in each 12-month registration period in order to maintain endorsement.
The Board understands that it may be difficult to fulfil this requirement in the current environment, and I am therefore writing to highlight that, as communicated in our COVID-19 update of 22 April:
The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting on dental practitioners’ continuing professional development (CPD) in various ways, including where CPD events or leave are cancelled. The Board encourages practitioners to continue CPD relevant to their practice where possible. However, we do not want CPD requirements to take practitioners away from clinical care or cause additional concerns to practitioners already under extra pressure due to COVID-19.
Accordingly, if a practitioner can’t meet the CPD standard because of the COVID-19 emergency, then we won’t take any action for the registration period during which the COVID-19 emergency response is in force. This also applies to the Board’s Endorsement for conscious sedation registration standard, and the requirement to attend a Board approved and competency based course each 12-month registration period to maintain endorsement.
Regards
Dr Murray Thomas
Chair, Dental Board of Australia
