One of the primary responsibilities of the Saskatchewan Dental Hygienists’ Association (SDHA) is to ensure the ongoing competence of individual members and to improve the performance of the profession overall. To this end, the goal of this Continuing Competency Program (CCP) is to advance the collective knowledge and quality of care offered by all dental hygienists in Saskatchewan, thus assuring protection of the public’s interest.
Lifelong learning and reflection of educational needs is the fundamental responsibility of a professional. As preventive oral health care professionals, it is critical for dental hygienists to remain current and informed of changes in oral health care delivery methods, clinical procedures and technological advances in the attainment and maintenance of oral health.
It is the member’s responsibility to determine his or her specific continuing competency needs and to pursue activities that meet these identified needs; self-directed assessment. Examples of self-directed assessment may be:
- Reflecting on practice problems or challenges
- Reviewing the CDHA National Competencies and Code of Ethics
- Researching answers to questions that have been asked of you
- External feedback
- Evidence based practice
Members have the basic professional responsibility to read professional oral health journals and newsletters and to keep their practice current. Under the SDHA CCP, credit may be granted for continuing competence learning activities beyond this basic responsibility.
It is understood that all learning activities shall have significant intellectual or practical content related to the practice of dental hygiene, oral health, or the professional responsibility and ethical obligations of a member.
