Accreditation of Educational Programme

Accreditation of education is the process by which an oral health educational programme is recognised as having met the defined national requirements and standards. In other words it means a certification of competency, authority, or credibility. The aim is to promote and encourage continual and lifelong education of the dental professionals.

Accreditation represents periodic and integrated process of self-reflection and standards-based review, two cornerstones of a self regulating profession in its social contract with the public it serves.

IDA’s CDE is accredited by Accredited Continuing Dental Education Programme (ACDEP - Governing Board and Regulatory Board). A transparent and accountable accreditation process which assures the profession and the public that they are being well-served by IDA CDE’s life-long learning commitment.

Monitoring the education (CDE) of IDA’s members is important, as it adds value to their dental practice and knowledge. The CDE goals are related to the oral health care needs of the public and / or interests and needs of the dental profession.

Accreditation further open doors for:

• Public recognition
• Stimulates continuous improvement of the clinic.
• Objective system of evaluation and empanelment by Third Parties
• Results in high quality of care and patient safety.
• Satisfied staff as it provides for continuous learning, good working environment, leadership and ownership of service processes.

Accreditation is evidence of IDA’s commitment to:

• Meet nationally approved educational standards
• Provide study credits for maintenance of registration \ Certification
• Ongoing quality improvement

The standards for educational programmes address:

1. Public safety
2. Academic governance & quality assurance
3. Programme of study
4. Dental Professional’s journey
5. Assessment.

The Vision of CDE is to provide optimum oral health to the public.

• Provision of quality educational programmes.
• Meeting needs of dental professionals committed to lifelong learning.

• To accelerate excellence in oral healthcare by enhancing the performance of all dental professionals through education, advocacy and collaboration.
• To serves the public by ensuring that the quality and continuous improvement of CDE reflects in advancing oral and general health in India.

These values help IDA achieve its vision and mission:

• Excellence -- Striving for quality in all its endeavors.
• Integrity -- Acting in an ethical and transparent manner.
• Courtesy -- Embracing diversity of ideas, culture and language.
• Compassion -- Enable participants to provide improved level of dental care to their patients.
• Collaboration-- Engaging with stakeholders to accomplish its mission.
• Diversity -- Disseminate information on advancing technology and procedure.
• Professionalism -- Encourage and assist dental professionals to achieve higher levels of skills and competence.

Importance of accreditation to a Dentist

Accreditation has relevance to Dentist, because as a practitioner the dentist is concerned with the oral health needs of the public. The Dentist’s education should provide the knowledge and skills necessary for carrying out prevention, assessment, diagnosis and treatment of conditions and diseases of the Orofacial complex and associated tissues. The practitioner’s education, training and competence must include consultation with, or refer to, other health care providers when appropriate for the best interest of the patient. Accreditation ensures that Dentist is educated in the basic and clinical sciences as well as in related health subjects.

IDA serves the public by ensuring the quality and continuous improvement of CDE reflects in advancing oral and general health in India.

Accreditation by ACDEP,meeting needs of dental professionals committed to lifelong learning and demonstrates a commitment to providing high-quality, patient-centred oral health care.

To Dental Professionals -

• Earn continuing education credits to have certification.
• Enjoy opportunities to learn with / from and better understand colleagues with different expertise, while advancing your own expertise.
• Enhance knowledge, skills, and ability to perform and collaborate with healthcare teams.
• Gain confidence that your choice of continuing education is a worthwhile investment, because we have proven commitment to delivering relevant, effective, and independent continuing education for oral healthcare teams.
• Speaking at CDE activities can also be a great stage for professionals to share their expertise and increase their distinction in their specialty.

To Employers -

• Sending employees to CDE activities benefits employers because it improves their knowledge, competence, performance & patient outcome.
• It is also an opportunity to show support for employees & associates. Supporting the professional development needs of employees shows them that the employer supports them, which can help with employee retention.
• Additionally, hosting CDE programmes helps attract employees because it brings in experts that raise the level of professionalism of the workplace.

To Departments within an Organization, Organizations and Businesses -

• Sending staff to CDE activities improves the knowledge, competence, performance & patient outcomes of staff and shows support to their professional development needs, which helps to retain them.
• Additionally, hosting CDE programmes is a great way for departments to earn dental professionals attendance and increase the visibility & credibility of the department.

To the Community, City, State & Nation -

• CDE benefits the local community, city, state, and nation because it improves the oral health of the people as it improves patient care & patient outcomes.
• Hosting CDE activities also benefits a city's revenue because notable CDE activities can attract hundreds of tourists to a city.

Education Providers -

• Achieve distinction in the accreditation of oral healthcare.
• Demonstrate your leadership in team-based, inter-professional education (IPE) and care.
• Position your programme as a strategic partner in oral healthcare improvement initiatives.
• Excel in advancing oral healthcare education quality and integrity.
• Expand education offerings locally, regionally, and internationally.
• Add new target audiences for education offerings.
• Reach more oral healthcare professionals with your educational activities. Increase operational efficiency, saving time, money, and resources.
• Produce continuing education for assistants, dental hygienist or dental professionals separately or together.
• Gain visibility and credibility.

The Accredited Continuing Dental Education Programme (ACDEP)  has produced the following quick guide to successful accreditation for a conference or group learning activity.

1. Needs Assessment: It is important to determine who your target audience is and what their perceived or unperceived needs are. You will be asked to identify the sources of information you have used.
2. Creating Learning Objectives: Learning objectives should be based on the identified needs. The objectives should be developed for the overall conference and for individual presentations or workshops and should state what the participants will know or achieve as a result of attending the activity. If possible, the objectives should be printed on the conference brochure. Alternatively, they should be made available during the conference.
3. Educational Delivery Method: It is important to think about the educational delivery options in order to engage participants actively and facilitate adult learning. It is likewise important to ensure that at least 25% of the education time is devoted to interactive learning opportunities.
4. Evaluations: It is essential to plan evaluations in order to obtain feedback from the participants. It is important to tie the evaluations to the learning objectives in order to explore whether the objectives were indeed met and whether the course content was relevant to the participants’ learning needs.
5. Ethical Standards for Continuing Professional Education: Group CDE activities must meet the ACDEP guidelines governing the relationship between dental profession and the pharmaceutical industry, and the CDE guidelines. The sponsoring organization must have complete control over the selection of the topic, content and speakers, and must ensure the scientific validity, objectivity and completeness of the content. There must be a mechanism for disclosing financial affiliations of faculty, moderators and members of the planning committee. All sources of commercial funds must be identified and funds are to be received in the form of an unrestricted educational grant, payable to the sponsoring organization.

No drug or product advertisements may appear on or with any of the written materials, preliminary or final programmes, brochures or advanced notifications of the event. Generic names should be used rather than trade names on all presentations and written materials.