British Dental Journal based Continuing Professional Development: a survey of participating dentists and their views

Br Dent J. 2005 Nov 26;199(10):665-9, discussion 654. doi: 10.1038/sj.bdj.4812928.

Abstract

Objective: There is little information available on journal based verifiable continuing professional development (CPD). The aim of this study was to survey those dentists who have undertaken this form of CPD and elicit their views.

Design: A questionnaire survey.

Method: Four hundred dentists who had registered to undertake CPD with the British Dental Journal (BDJ) were randomly selected and sent a questionnaire.

Results: Three hundred and twelve questionnaires were returned (78%) of these 181 (58%) were male and 131 (42%) were female. Of the 312, 307 had undertaken the BDJ CPD initiative. Two hundred and sixty eight respondents (87.3%) agreed/strongly agreed that the BDJ CPD satisfied their personal CPD needs. Two hundred and eighty three (92.2%) agreed/strongly agreed that their knowledge has been increased as a result of undertaking the BDJ CPD initiative. Two hundred and twenty agreed/strongly agreed (71.7%) that an element of their clinical practice had changed as a result of undertaking the BDJ CPD initiative.

Conclusion: Journal based learning appears to be an effective way of undertaking verifiable CPD.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Chi-Square Distribution
  • Education, Dental, Continuing / methods*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Periodicals as Topic*
  • Personal Satisfaction
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • United Kingdom