Melbourne Dental School - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 1 of 1
-
ItemAn analysis of the effectiveness of a continuing professional development (CPD) program for dentists in Victoria( 2009)Periodontitis is a common condition resulting in destruction of periodontal tissues and eventually tooth loss. Every patient requires appropriate diagnosis and treatment by their dental practitioner. Periodontics has undergone many innovations in recent years. It is the onus of the treating dentist to keep abreast of developments in order to provide quality care to their patients. Unfortunately there is literature indicating that some Victorian dentists may not be following appropriate clinical practice in the identification and management of the periodontal needs of their patients. To address this, the School of Dental Science, the University of Melbourne, began conducting a Continuing Professional Development course titled ‘Periodontics via Distance Learning’. The course was composed of a mixture of hands on, distance learning and didactic components. This study assessed changes in clinical practice of course participants via the use of a delayed impact on practice questionnaire. All those who participated in the course in 2005 and 2006 were sampled. A response rate of 85% was recorded. Overall, an increase in practitioner confidence in periodontal diagnosis and periodontal treatment was reported and with many respondents indicated changes in their clinical practice had occurred. However, the reported changes recorded were not universal to all participants. Further research is required to determine how best to structure a dental CPD course.