Continuing Competency

Health professions are constantly changing through advances in technology, research, innovations in health care delivery and procedures, and increasing social awareness. Continual change accentuates the need for dental hygiene registrants to pursue educational opportunities that enhance their professional practice. It is a registrant’s responsibility to determine his/her specific Continuing Competency needs and to pursue activities that enable the registrant to maintain competency in dental hygiene practice. For more information about Quality Assurance Programs within regulated health professions, click here.

In order to formalize CDHBC’s commitment to continuing professional study and to meet the mandate of the Health Professions Act, the Quality Assurance Committee has established Continuing Competency (CC) requirements for the registration of dental hygienists. Registrants of the College are required to obtain 75 credits in a three-year cycle in order to be eligible for registration renewal; if 75 credits are not complete and recorded at the end of the three-year cycle, the registrant will not be able to renew his/her registration. When submitting CC credits, supporting documents are not needed unless audited (see below).

To be eligible for credit, the content of CC activities must be applicable to the individual registrant’s practice of dental hygiene; topics include clinical therapy, health promotion, education, administration, and/or research. Credits will not be granted for activities deemed to be a regular requirement of professional practice, such as reading journals and newsletters, completing a Local Anesthesia course to upgrade from Conditional to Full registration, or preparing to teach a class while employed as an instructor. For a detailed breakdown of CC requirements, refer to the Registrant’s Handbook Tab 8 or visit the Continuing Competency FAQs page.
 

Submit Credits Online

To submit your Continuing Competency credits online, please log in to the secured Registrant Area.

 

Year-Ender Audit

Ten percent of cycle year-enders will be randomly selected to verify their CC credits. The selected registrants are notified by the College in September, at which time they are asked to submit all credits that were obtained in the current year, along with supporting documentation including certificates, course notes, receipts, and/or letters confirming enrollment and completion of the educational program(s).

To ensure that documentation is received by CDHBC in a timely manner, registrants are encouraged to organize all records pertaining to continuing education so that the information is easily accessible throughout the three-year cycle. The College strongly recommends that registrants retain records to support all Continuing Competency credit submissions for each current cycle and for at least six months following each cycle.

All materials will be returned to the registrant, but sending copies is encouraged to ensure that original documentation is not lost or misplaced.

 

Study Clubs

For information about study clubs, please click here. For a listing of study clubs, see Forms & Resources. To establish a new study club, complete the Application form.