Self-Assessment

Annually assessing your own competence is an important step in the competence program. When you use the Self-Assessment you will rate yourself in each of the competencies of a dental assistant.

Use the Self-Assessment fillable PDF.

Your ratings help you identify what you need to learn to benefit your practice. You can then use that information to plan your learning objectives for the upcoming year, which you need to record in our Portal.

Self-Assessment Tips

For many people, self-assessment is not easy. It can be intimidating to honestly reflect on your practice, particularly if there are areas that you feel you could improve on. When you work through your self-assessment, here are some tips to help you assess your practice:

1. Consider the reasons you would or would not provide a service.

• • Do you remember the theory?
  • Do you know what the current standard of care is?
  • Have there been any changes in recent months or years affecting this particular service or skill?

2. Consider your employer’s mission and vision statements or office philosophy.

• • Is the care you provide meeting these values?
  • Are you providing safe services?
  • Are your decisions ethically/morally sound?
  • Is there anything you could do differently to better reflect these values?

3. Does your practice comply with the legislation governing:

• • your dental assisting practice (e.g. Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice)
  • personal information and privacy (e.g. Health Information Act)
  • waste disposal (e.g. Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act)
  • occupational health and safety (e.g. Radiation Protection Act and Occupational Health And Safety Act)

Note: if you’re not sure whether your practice complies with any of these areas, you might consider it as a worthwhile learning objective! You can find many of these resources and more at Legislation, Regulations and Other Resources.

4. When assessing your Foundational Knowledge, consider whether you know what you NEED to know to provide services on a daily basis.

• • Are you able to locate more detailed information if you need to?

5. If you are in a supervisory position, officially or by nature of your role, are you encouraging development of the principles above in those who look to you for guidance?

If you still need help assessing your practice, ask a trusted peer for help or contact our Regulatory Compliance Advisors for guidance.