Certificate in Dental Radiography – Correspondence

Course start date March, leading to the exam in December.

Correspondence course - You are looking to spend at least 3 – 4 hours a week completing the work. This is the same as if you were going to night school one night a week.

You will sit the exam at a centre near to you. This will be in the UK & is normally a major city or at a dental hospital. The exam board designate the centres. This is the only time you will have to go anywhere. You can contact the exam board to ask where your nearest centre would be.

You would gain the Certificate in Dental Radiography, which enables you to take radiographs of patients under prescription of a dentist.

You will also be able to claim verifiable CPD hours towards your registration with the GDC.

Theory
The course follows the syllabus set out by the Exam Board for Dental Nurses.
Each week you have a set amount of work to complete, just as you would do at night school. The work is in an easy to follow and understand format & is available on paper or CD. It can also be emailed if you prefer. You are allocated a tutor who you can contact if you get stuck or need further clarification on a subject. You send work to your tutor at regular intervals so your tutor can provide feedback to you on any revision needed. The course material covers the theory section for the exam which includes physics, radiation protection, apparatus & equipment, films & processing, digital imaging etc.

Practical:
As part of the exam you are expected to complete some practical tasks in your workplace. Your tutor will help. These tasks are submitted in written form ‘Practical competence assessment sheets’, logs (PCAS) to the examining board before the exam.

Log sheets to be completed whilst under the supervision of a dentist, providing evidence of your competency in taking different types of radiographs : PLEASE NOTE YOU MUST BE ABLE TO TAKE A RANGE OF RADIOGRAPHS I.E. OPG, BITEWINGS, PERIAPICAL, OCCLUSALS, CEPHS TO COMPLETE THE ROE IN ORDER TO SIT THE EXAM.

Case studies you will choose 3 radiographs from the above log sheets for a more in-depth case study and write a detailed report to be submitted to the examining board. 1 x dental panaoramic, 1 x bitewing & 1 x paralleling technique periapical radiograph.

Supplementary Outcomes: Set of questions to complete as guided by the tutor to test underpinning knowledge that cannot be gained when taking radiographs or in case studies.

The Exam

Written exam is 90 minute examination consisting of a mixture of best single answer from 5 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and extended matching questions (EMQs).