Since the Continuing Competence Program (CCP) Review wrapped up in December 2023, our team has been working with the recommendations from the Review. We are pleased to share this update with you.
Competency Profile Review
The Competency Profile is a valuable tool for dental assistants, employers, managers, and educators, guiding scope of practice, roles, and responsibilities. Competencies define the knowledge, skills, behaviours and attitudes of dental assistants in Alberta and are an important tool for the CCP. It is vital that these competencies are up to date and detailed.
The Competency Profile is due for an update. We heard from dental assistants that competencies are missing from the Profile while others are not explicit enough, and they often struggle to find competencies that match their learning objectives. Because the Profile is a key part of the CCP, ensuring that it is up to date is an important first step in making improvements.
Updating the Profile will involve a thorough, third-party review. This fall, an external consultant will gather input from dental assistants and other stakeholders at several in-person focus groups. We will be inviting dental assistants and educators to contribute to updating the Profile by participating in a focus group.
Descriptive Prompts Added to Learning Records in the Portal
Dental assistants record their planned learning, completed learning activities and outcomes in our online Portal. During the CCP Review, dental assistants said they were often unsure about what information to include in their learning records to meet our requirements.
To clarify our expectations, and to make it easier for dental assistants to meet them, we have added prompts in our online Portal. Previously, the various fields of a learning record were labelled with a field name only. For supporting information, dental assistants had to refer to other resources like our Competence Program Manual. The new prompts describe what we are looking for, offering immediate, accessible guidance.
This change will improve dental assistants’ experience with the CCP and ultimately lead to clearer, more complete learning records.
What’s Next?
Through the CCP Review, we received valuable feedback about how we can make our Continuing Competence Program more effective. Using that feedback, we will keep working to enhance dental assistants’ understanding of and experience with the CCP to meet our intended outcomes:
- meeting the public’s expectation of receiving competent care from dental assistants
- meeting the Health Professions Act requirement of continuing competence for health professionals
- meeting our mission to regulate dental assistants in the public interest, promoting the delivery of safe, quality oral health care
- working with dental assistants to ensure they understand their responsibilities and meet them, practice competently and take responsibility for their own learning
- encouraging dental assistants to achieve more through self-reflection