Welcome to Professionalism & Professional Standards for GDC
Welcome to this course
This course covers the standing conduct and discipline side of the GDC’s Standards for the Dental Team, the five standards our companion Ethics course doesn’t own: communicating effectively, having a clear complaints procedure, working with colleagues, maintaining your professional knowledge and skills, and raising concerns.
Dentistry is practised by a genuinely multi-disciplinary team, dentists, dental nurses, hygienists, therapists, technicians, and orthodontic therapists, each with a distinct, defined scope of practice. This course is built around that real structure, not a generic professionalism course with “dentist” substituted in.
By the end of this course you will be able to
- Work confidently within your own scope of practice and recognise the boundaries of others’
- Communicate clearly with patients and treat a complaint as information, not an attack
- Delegate and refer appropriately, understanding that accountability can’t be delegated away
- Raise a concern properly, even in a small, close-knit practice team
- Meet the everyday conduct standard, including online, and apply every standard together in a real case
Who this is for
Any dentist or dental care professional registered with the GDC, at any career stage, in any setting, NHS or private practice, general or specialist. Especially relevant if you supervise a team, delegate tasks to other DCPs, or manage patient complaints directly.
Why the standards split this way between our two courses
The GDC’s nine standards don’t naturally divide into two equal, tidy halves, some involve genuine ethical weighing of competing considerations, patient interests, consent, confidentiality, while others describe a standing discipline to apply consistently, communication habits, delegation practice, raising concerns. That underlying difference is exactly why these two courses exist separately rather than as one combined course: the kind of thinking each set of standards actually calls for is genuinely different, and treating them identically would serve neither well.
Please read this firstThis course explains professional standards and the reasoning behind them. It is not legal advice and does not replace representation. If a concern has been raised about your registration, speak to your defence organisation before you act.
Structure How this course is organised +
Five modules, four knowledge checks, and a final 15-question assessment. Score 80% to unlock your certificate.
- Module 1 — scope of practice, CPD, and working within your capabilities
- Module 2 — clear communication and handling complaints properly
- Module 3 — delegation, accountability, and working with the dental team
- Module 4 — raising concerns, confidentiality in shared spaces, and online conduct
- Module 5 — applying every standard together, with a full worked case
Around 2.5 hours in total, worth 2.5 CPD hours.
Pairs with Ethics & Ethical Standards for Dentists & Dental Care Professionals (GDC) +
These two courses are designed as a pair, covering the GDC’s nine standards between them, without duplicating each other.
