We are thinking about registering for Vital online verifiable CPD. Could you please let us know if the eight hours will include the core subjects?

Ed's response: I receive numerous emails like this so I thought that I would reply on the V-mail page this issue. Registered DCPs need to complete 150 hours of CPD per five year cycle, 50 hours of which must be verifiable. Verifiable CPD is CPD that can be verified by a third party. With Vital CPD your verifiable CPD will be verified by a certificate. Each certificate represents one hour of CPD.

The GDC recommends that the whole dental team covers CPD in the following core areas over the five year cycle:

  • At least ten hours of CPD in medical emergencies

  • At least five hours of CPD in disinfection and decontamination

  • At least five hours of CPD in radiography and radiation protection.

All those who work in a clinical or laboratory environment are advised to also carry out CPD (verifiable or non-verifiable) in legal and ethical issues and in complaints handling. Vital CPD provides eight hours of verifiable CPD per year either via our website or through the post. This is equivalent to 40 hours of verifiable CPD over five years. Over these 40 hours of CPD the core subjects will be covered.

Over the last year the following verifiable CPD was included in Vital: decontamination (2 hours), complaints (1 hour), clinical governance (1 hour), radiography (1 hour), medical emergencies (1 hour), oral health education (1 hour) and ethics (1 hour).

You can also include reading other Vital articles in your non-verifiable (general) CPD. Just keep a record of which articles you have read and how long you spent reading them. You can even look at past issues of Vital on the online archive, which goes back to 2003. See http://www.nature.com/vital/archive/index.html.