Announcements

2009 Catalog Now Available

The new CDE catalog is now available. Here is some general information that may be helpful.

Eligibility
Continuing Dental Education [CDE] courses are open to IHS, Tribal, Urban, and Contract dental personnel. Some courses require completion of a prerequisite course. This is noted on the Course Detail page of each catalog offering. For example, dental assistants may not enroll in the Advanced Restorative course unless they have successfully completed the Basic Restorative course.

Before Selecting Your CDE Courses
Before selecting a CDE course, you must complete an Individual Development Plan [IDP] with a supervisor. The IDP identifies training needs that would be most appropriate for an employee and the dental program for which he / she works. If you have not already completed an IDP with your supervisor, you can find a copy of the form by going to the Dental Portal at the following address:
www.doh.ihs.gov

To locate the form, follow these steps:
1.   Click the "Please Login" link near the top of the page.
2.   Once you are logged in, click the "CDE” tab on the left side of the page.
3.   On the CDE website, click the "My CDE” tab on the left side of the page.
4.   Then on the right side of the “My CDE” page, click the "IndividualDevelopmentPlan.doc" link under “Forms.”
5.   Download the IDP form, print it out and complete the form with your supervisor.

Selecting Your CDE Courses
Once you have completed your IDP, you may select your courses. For the current fiscal year, you may choose a maximum of three courses by following these steps:
1.   Click the “Catalog” tab in the main navigation on the left side of the CDE website.
2.   Scroll as needed to find a course of interest.
3.   Click the Course Number to go to the Course Detail page.
4.   If this is a course that you wish to select, click the “Select Course” button.

Supervisor Approval of Your Course Selections
After you have selected all your courses, you are ready to process the selections by 1] prioritizing selections and 2] confirming priorities. Both these steps must be completed before sending the request to your supervisor. The CDE system uses the priorities you set here to try to register you in your most wanted course. Once you confirm your priorities, the CDE system sends an email to your supervisor requesting approval. To begin the Supervisor Approval process, click the “Request Approval” button on the right side of any Course Detail page. Once your request is sent, you can track the status of your request using the "My CDE" page.

Help is Available
If you are using the CDE website for the first time, ask one of your co-workers or your supervisor for assistance. If you have forgotten your username or password, click on the “Forgot” button on the Login page. If you wish to confirm that you have made your selections correctly before the lottery, you can contact Marybeth.kinney@comcast.net for assistance. If you prefer to speak to someone by phone, call 602-364-7747 and ask your question. Leave your name and phone number as well as convenient times to call you.

Lottery
A computerized lottery is used to register participants into courses. This gives everyone an equal opportunity to attend at least one course. The selection period for FY 2009 is September 12, 2008 – October 31, 2008.

Results of the Lottery
An automated email will be sent to you and your supervisor with the results of the lottery. If you do not receive an email with your results, login to the website and see your results under "My CDE." The results of the lottery will be available on www.doh.ihs.gov on November 3, 2008.

Update Your Dental Directory Listing
If you do not receive an automated email, that is an indication that your email address is listed incorrectly in the Dental Directory. Please make corrections to the Dental Directory by following these steps:
1.   Login to the Dental Portal at www.doh.ihs.gov.
2.   Your Directory Listing is shown in the upper right corner of the page.
Note: If you do not see a section entitled “Your Directory Listing”, you are not logged into the Dental Portal; please click the “Login Help” tab on the left side of the page for help logging into the Dental Portal.
3.   Make changes to the information as needed by clicking "update your directory listing".
It is important that your email address be correct in the CDE Dental Directory since emails may be sent to advise you of course changes, course cancellations, and course assignments.

Confirming Your Attendance
Due to the extremely high demand for CDE courses, and the need to utilize resources efficiently, confirmation or cancellation of course attendance is required. When you are registered for a course, the status on that course will read “Registered” on the “My CDE” page. You can update the “Status” of your attendance at any time by clicking on the word “Registered” and indicating “Attending” or “Not-Attending.” If you have not confirmed attendance, the message “Please Confirm Your Attendance” will appear in red under the Course Title on the “My CDE” page twelve weeks before the course is due to start. Follow these steps to confirm attendance:
1.   On the "My CDE" page, click the message “Please Confirm Your Attendance.”
2.   Select a new status from the list provided and enter an appropriate comment.
Note: If you select "Not Attending," your space in the class will be lost and filled with the first available waitlisted individual.
3.   Click the "Submit" button to finalize the change.
The Course Director will request that you re-confirm your attendance to him / her in writing after you have received your confirmation letter. If registered participants fail to confirm their intention to attend a course at least seven [7] weeks prior to the course start date, they will lose their training opportunity. Their place in a course will be offered to people on the waiting list.

Paying Your Tuition
Tuition is not charged for dental personnel working at IHS federal programs. Tuition will be charged for dental personnel working at Tribal dental programs that have taken their headquarters dental shares.
If you are charged tuition, then it must be paid eight [8] weeks before the start date of a course. You pay tuition by check or money order made payable as directed in the catalog. Each course has a payment address indicated.
"In Your Clinic" and "By Request" courses have associated costs for travel, per diem, lodging, salary, and honorarium for instructors. These costs will be charged to all IHS, Tribal, and Urban dental programs. Contact the Course Director to arrange to schedule a course and negotiate fees.

Travel & Lodging Information
Course participants are responsible for confirming attendance in a course, making travel and lodging arrangements, obtaining necessary travel documents, and ensuring that clinic schedules are arranged to allow for participants absence.
Eight [8] to twelve [12] weeks before the start of a course, the Course Director will mail out information on lodging, special instructions regarding travel, uniform of the day, and the phone number of someone to contact to answer questions.
Another way to check travel and lodging information for a course is through the CDE website. Once you go to www.doh.ihs.gov and login, go to the CDE site and click on the course for which you are registered and scroll down on the Course Detail to the travel section. Some course directors will post the course confirmation letter on the CDE website under “Course Materials” which is under “Tools.”

Online/DVD Courses
The FY 2009 catalog has several courses that can be taken online. Tuition is charged for staff who work for dental programs that have taken HQ shares. Check the CDE website for information about tuition and access to online courses.

CDE Certificates
Course participants can view and print transcripts through the CDE system. A transcript lists the courses you have completed and the number of CDE credits earned since FY 2002. The transcript will be automatically updated when you complete courses in FY 2009.
Course participants are encouraged, upon their return to their worksite, to discuss course content with their supervisor and co-workers, and share what was learned and whether the course would be appropriate for other staff to attend.

Accreditation
The IHS Division of Oral Health is an American Dental Association [ADA] Continuing Education Recognition Program [CERP] Recognized Provider and Dental Assisting National Board [DANB] approved. In order to receive credit, participants must attend all sessions of a course. Evening sessions or pre-course work may be scheduled at the discretion of the course instructor, and will be announced at the beginning of the course.