GDC Consultation Now Open

Over the last 18 months we have undertaken a review of the learning outcomes for new registrants, as detailed in Preparing for Practice.  Following this review, we have created a revised draft titled 'The safe practitioner: A framework of behaviours and outcomes for dental professional education', which we are now asking your views on.

All dental students need to be able to demonstrate they have met our learning outcomes before being awarded their qualification. These are currently listed in our Preparing for Practice framework for education and providers, which was last updated in 2015.

Since we last reviewed the learning outcomes, there have been significant shifts in society and in dentistry, so your response to this consultation will continue to ensure people joining our register have the right skills, knowledge, and behaviours.

ABOUT THE CONSULTATION

We are proposing three main changes, which include:

1. Change to terminology - introducing the term 'safe practitioner' to describe the level of knowledge and skills we expect of new registrants
2. Introducing the concept of behaviours - a requirement for students to be assessed on behaviours as well as more specific learning outcomes 
3. Developing new areas of non-clinical content, which recognises the different landscape we are all now working in - strengthen the focus in a number of non-clinical and non-technical areas including equality, diversity and inclusion, reflection and insight, the importance of wellbeing, and complaints handling. There are also two new outcomes related to sustainability and understanding environmental impact. These recognise the different landscape we are all now working in.

The proposed frameworks, which detail the learning outcomes and behaviours for each professional discipline are listed below:

1. Dental Nurse
2. Dental Technician
3. Clinical Dental Technician
4. Dentist
5. Dental Therapist
6. Dental Hygienist
7. Orthodontic Therapist

HOW TO RESPOND

Please review the full consultation document and then provide your response using the online survey.   This consultation will run for 12 weeks until 10 January 2023.

Read full GDC update.