Categories of dentists and the requirements imposed by the certification commission to obtain them

The skill of a doctor is determined by his education, work experience in his specialty and how often he improves his qualifications and actively participates in scientific activities. To determine the level of qualifications of all medical specialists, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation introduced such a concept as “category”, which denotes the existing level of skill of a particular health worker. The qualifications of health workers, depending on their specialty, are assessed within three to six categories. In this article we will analyze in detail the categories of dentists, and also talk about the rules of certification. You will learn what a doctor must do to receive a new category, and how it affects the doctor's salary.

How do the categories for dentists differ from each other?

The professionalism of dentists is measured in three categories – second, first and highest. Which category is assigned to a doctor depends on the doctor’s work experience and the results of his last certification. Doctors try to regularly improve their skills and category, because this directly affects the trust of patients, the respect of colleagues and salary.

Let's consider the features of each category of dentists in ascending order.

Second category. This is the basic category that a specialist receives immediately after completing residency. According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, it is valid for five years, but a dentist can apply for a higher level after three years of professional activity. To confirm the second category, a specialist must provide a report to the certification commission, take a test and undergo an interview. The main criterion is a good grasp of the theory and practical skills of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of patients. At the same time, the physician refrains from scientific activities and has limited knowledge in disciplines related to dentistry.
First category. A specialist has the right to submit documents for assignment to this category only if he has five to seven years of work experience. The amount of work experience depends on the level of education. A doctor with higher education can receive the first category only after 7 years of work in his specialty. A physician with secondary education can apply for advanced training after 5 years of professional experience. The certification procedure also includes submitting a report, testing and an interview. To be assigned this category, the dentist must be well acquainted with related disciplines and regularly participate in the scientific and practical activities of the medical institution in which he works.
Highest category. To obtain this level of qualification, a doctor must have at least ten years of work experience in his specialty, if he has a higher education, and seven years of work experience on the basis of secondary vocational education. As in the first two cases, the procedure for upgrading a category consists of submitting a report to the certification commission and passing an interview. To earn the highest level of qualification, a dentist must regularly participate in scientific conferences, confidently master modern methods of diagnosis, prevention and treatment of patients, have a good understanding of related disciplines and constantly improve the level of knowledge by completing various educational programs included in the CME base.

Procedure for joining the CME system

Only specialists with a medical or pharmaceutical education can become participants, so to join the CME system you must:

Graduate from a university, college or retraining course in a medical or pharmaceutical specialty.
Pass the accreditation exam in specialized centers.
Register on the official CME portal and enter information about educational documents - including a certificate of accreditation.

Immediately after checking the data, the specialist can begin to collect points for periodic accreditation.

How to prepare for category assignment

Let's look at how to get a category as a dentist. Preparation for certification occurs on both sides - both on the part of the doctor who wants to improve his qualifications, and on the part of the certification commission.

Stage 1: formation of the certification commission

It all starts with an order from government authorities to form a certification commission. Responsible persons are determined within the commission, some of whom are included in the coordinating committee, and some of whom are included in the group of experts. Since all doctors are certified, regardless of specialty, a group of experts is selected separately for each area of medical activity. This means that when certifying general practitioners, the commission will include experts in the field of therapy, and when certifying dentists, there will be dental specialists.

The commission must include invited leading medical and pharmaceutical workers, representatives of the government agency that ordered the formation of this commission, and a representative of the organization in which the certified medical worker works.

Stage 2: submission of documents

As soon as the commission is formed, it begins its work. Applicants send her their documents for evaluation, including:

an application with a request to obtain admission to certification tests for assignment of a higher level of qualification - written to the chairman of the commission;
certification sheet - must be certified by the head of the human resources department from the place of employment of the physician;
report on the work done for the last year or three years - depends on the education of the medical worker;
copy of the work document;
a copy of the diploma/certificate of specialized medical education;
a copy of the document confirming the change of surname, if the doctor received a diploma/certificate of education in his old surname.

This list must be accompanied by evidence of existing qualifications, if any.

The procedure for receiving and registering documents is also regulated by law and has an established procedure:

on the day when the dentist provides a report and statement of intention to participate in the certification, the commission registers his documents in a special journal;
then the correctness of filling out the report and drawing up the certification sheet is checked;
if the commission finds errors in the preparation of documents, then it refuses in writing to accept the dentist’s application for certification and sends him a corresponding notification within a week;
After receiving a refusal, the medical specialist can correct the mistakes made and re-send the application to the commission.

Please note that the dentist must submit documents to the commission no later than four months before the end of his old category. If a physician misses the deadline, he can undergo certification only after the current category expires. In this case, the specialist will no longer receive a bonus for skill until he passes certification.

Stage 3: review of the candidate's report

If there are no errors in the certification documents sent by the dentist, the commission begins to study the report in detail, and this is considered the beginning of certification. 30 days are allotted to study the report, after which the committee members are required to issue a final conclusion, which can be of two types - the accredited person is admitted to further tests or is not admitted.

If the accredited person is found eligible, a notification is sent to him indicating the date, time and location of the examination. The minimum time interval between the date of receipt of the notification by the dentist and the date of the examination is 30 calendar days.

Retraining course to obtain a certificate

Those health workers who have had a significant break in their professional work should undergo professional retraining. For example, an employee had 2 certification documents, according to one of which he had not practiced for 5 years. Let's say a phthisiatrician and an infectious disease specialist. The doctor did not work in the field of Infectious Diseases (residency diploma) and did not improve his qualifications for a long time. After training, along with a diploma of professional retraining, the phthisiatrist will be issued a specialist certificate in the field of Infectious Diseases.

The procedure for certification of dentists

Certification for the category of dentist also takes place in several stages.

Step 1. Passing the exam. After the commission has accepted the dentist’s report, it invites a specialist to undergo professional testing. The test is considered passed if the dentist answers at least 70% of the questions correctly.

Step 2. Interview. If the dentist passes the test, he is invited for an interview in order to find out the depth of knowledge in the area in which he works. The commission also checks how well the specialist understands the rules for cleaning and disinfecting the dental office. The interaction of the certified person with the commission takes place in the form of “question-answer”. After the doctor has answered all the questions, the commission members vote whether the person being certified is worthy of being assigned a new level of qualification or not. If the majority of votes are in favor, then the category is considered upgraded. If the votes are equally divided, then the chairman of the commission has the final say.

Step 3. Preparation of an order to assign a new category. When the dentist has passed all the tests and the commission has made a positive decision, the authorized government agency orders to assign a new level of qualification to the certified person. For this purpose, a separate order is created, which is signed and sent to the authorized government agencies and to the specialist’s place of employment.

Remote certification

Obtaining a certificate can be completed remotely. It involves online testing of knowledge on issues related to the completed educational material. Curricula and programs of distance courses are approved by the educational institution and are compiled on the basis of Federal State Educational Standards and professional standards. Thus, doctors can take a certification course remotely. Distance learning is ensured through students' access to the educational portal via the Internet. Online allows residents of remote regions of Russia who cannot physically get to study in Moscow to obtain certification.

To obtain certificates remotely, doctors need to take a number of simple steps:

After reviewing the list of areas of training, select the required curriculum;
Send a request to the educational institution in a form convenient for the listener: fill out a call back form, contact a representative of the institution by toll-free and 24/7, send an email;
The manager of the training center will contact you to clarify the request and send you an agreement for the provision of educational services for signing;
After payment under the contract, the student has unlimited access to educational materials on the portal;
The listener masters the program at a time convenient for him;
Upon completion, the student undergoes examination testing online;
After the test, documents on education and qualifications are sent to the student at his place of residence: a certificate and a certificate.

What should be contained in a dentist’s report for the category

Now let’s take a closer look at what a dentist’s report should contain in order for the commission to assign the maximum score when assessing it. The report should contain the following sections:

general introductory information about the doctor and his place of employment;
extended information about the specialist;
information about the dentist’s work activity over the last 1–3 years – depends on the doctor’s education;
a list of state laws and regulations of the Ministry of Health, which the dentist is guided by when working;
list of scientific publications of the specialist.

Introduction and brief information about the specialist

This part of the report should be no more than one printed page. The doctor should briefly talk about the specifics of his work and professional achievements. We recommend that in this section you mention a list of completed courses and educational advanced training programs, talk about awards and other facts of professional pride.

You also need to provide information about the place of work: name of the medical institution, number of structural units, types of services provided. It would not be superfluous to provide information about the technical equipment of the organization - whether the medical institution has modern equipment for research and high-tech dental procedures.

Information about professional activities

In the second section, the doctor must provide summary data on his activities over the last three years of work. The information should be presented in the form of a comparative analysis so that the commission members can clearly assess how the professional development of the dentist has progressed over the past years. We recommend using color infographics - charts, graphs, histograms with mandatory text explanations.

An additional advantage will be given to the report by information on the statistics of dental diseases that the doctor most often encountered in his work. The specialist can also describe his personal algorithms for diagnosing and treating dental diseases.

List of state laws and regulations of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation

This section of the report is needed to demonstrate to the commission a high degree of awareness in following current medical legislation. We recommend presenting information on this section in the following table:

type of document - it can be an order, resolution, etc.;
the competent authority that made the decision - the Ministry of Health, local or regional health department, Government, etc.;
date, number and title of the document.

List of scientific publications

If a doctor applies for the highest category, he must submit a list of scientific works and publications. In support, it is also important to attach to the report copies of the pages of journals where the dentist’s articles were published.

Registration of received points

ZET accounting is carried out automatically. After training, the specialist enters information about the documents received during the courses through his personal account. The procedure for receiving points is as follows:

choose advanced training courses or informal education;
undergo training and receive a document;
enter the document code in your personal account.

If the DPO center can conduct courses with points, after entering the data, the system will verify the information and automatically award ZET.

Additional payment per category

One of the reasons why dentists strive to regularly improve their skills is generous financial incentives. The legislation establishes additional payments for qualifying categories of dentists - 15, 20 and 30% for the second, first and highest categories, respectively.

Not only employees working directly with patients, but also heads of medical institutions can apply for the bonus. Since the amount of the bonus for the category is set as a percentage, the higher the specialist’s salary, the greater the amount of bonus he will receive.

We examined in detail what categories of dentists there are and how certification is carried out. Despite the clarity and simplicity of the procedure, examination tests almost always cause stress and anxiety among doctors. The “Academy of Professional Standards” will help dentists prepare for testing to improve their category in order to feel confident before the certification commission. We will also help you fill out the work report correctly, point out errors in a timely manner and explain how to correct them.