Middle East panel plots uniform approach to CE

Continuing education hours are set to be standardised across the Middle East, in a bid to promote closer cooperation between regional dental associations.

In the first region-wide initiative of its kind, a uniform system will allow national dental associations to automatically credit members for courses taken in other Middle Eastern countries.

The announcement emerged at the close of the Arab-Asian Dental Association Meeting, held during last month's AEEDC Conference in Dubai.

The scheme has been endorsed by the Association, which is made up of representatives from dental bodies across the Middle East.

Board member Dr Nasser Malik, of Dubai's Department of Health and Medical Services (DoHMS) said the measure would promote closer ties between the region's dental associations.

"The main point was education; how to improve it as a whole and how to make regional meetings easier and more attractive for local participants," he said. "This is a step towards a more unified regional dental system.

Currently, dental associations in the Middle East follow conflicting credit systems. Lebanon, for example, operates a point system where each hour of educational attendance receives a set number of points. The UAE favours the US-style system of awarding hours for participation.

Under the new scheme, points notched up abroad will automatically be translated to reflect the system of the home country, and will count towards the mandatory education credits needed for licence renewal.

The Association, however, has shied away from formally grading educational events. National dental agencies will be left to allocate points autonomously for courses, Malik said, with grading operating on a basis of trust.

"We're not going to question if it is a good or bad quality seminar," he said. "That would require a lot more consultation. It is a matter of standardisation.

Professor Rani Bin Samsudin, dean of the University of Sharjah's College of Dentistry, said the proposal should be used as a platform to raise the bar of dental education across the Middle East. "Standardising continuing education hours opens up opportunities...for establishing standards for education across the region."

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