Continuing Professional Development in the State of Qatar: needs, available resources and compliance of the dental professionals

The paper presents the results of a perceived Continuing Professional Development (CPD) needs assessment conducted prior to the launch of Qatar National Continuing Medical Education (CME) / Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program which mandated the participation of all healthcare practitioners in CPD activities. The results of the survey showed higher preference of group-learning activities which (together with other factors) represented a challenge for the newly developed national system. Such challenge was mitigated by Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners - Accreditation Department (QCHP-AD) using several support strategies including close monitoring of Dentists participation in the National CPD program, stakeholder collaboration, healthcare practitioners training and promoting the concept of interprofessional education, the later showed to be highly effective for ensuring availability of CPD activities to dentists and achieving high rate of compliance with the national CPD credit requirements.