Reflective Log

The reflective log to records your learning experiences, thoughts, feelings and reflections as an analytical assessment of your progression. The events you record can be situations where things went well, or situations where things have gone not as you would have wished (e.g. critical events). Anonymise all details.
Describe the event or situation clearly (including surrounding circumstances), the outcome, and its context to your knowledge and general practice. Describe changes to improve or extend your performance.  If you've identified a training need, add this too.
Discuss this with your Educational Supervisor who will guide you to develop your reflective skills and help you understand better your learning needs and performance. For further help see the page about Reflection.     Reflection   

How many and when?
You must complete at least 8 during your first eight weeks as this is when your learning needs are likely to be greatest. From then on you must complete at least one log each month when a relevant event occurs. You are required to have completed a minimum of eleven by the end of Month 5 and fifteen by the end of Month 9. 

 

Study Day Reflective Log

Each Study day must be record and reflected upon. This is part of the requirement for your final certification.
Reflection upon the study days will help you to put into context the information you have gained, either from outside speakers or from discussion with your peers and colleagues. The Study Days are not just sources of new information but an important part of the process by which you can learn to assess yourself in relation to your peers.
Full completion of this form each week will help your TPD and ES to review your progress within, and your understanding of, the complexities of dental practice. There are two reflections on Study Days. The first is designed to be an ‘immediate response’ to the content and quality of the day. The second takes place later and is designed to allow you to reflect on what (if anything) you have changed in your practise as a result of the Study Day.

 

Tutorial Reflective Log

You must keep a reflective record of all your tutorials during your DFT year.
Reflecting upon the topics covered during your tutorial, and the associated learning that have been recorded, will provide evidence of your development and progression as well as giving you the opportunity to assess further learning needs. Your TPD will review this record and will want to know that you are gaining the greatest benefit from the support you are receiving from your ES.
You are required to record a total of at least 40 tutorials throughout the 12 months of your DFT year.
Note that tutorials are non-verifiable CPD.

 

Clinical Activity Log

This Clinical Activity Log is where you must enter data for the number of Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) that you have completed each month. UDAs are not, in themselves, a reliable record of clinical activity, but they are the measure used in the NHS dental contract and thus are relevant to dental care provision. Your future remuneration will probably be related to UDA completion, so an understanding of your performance against this measure will be very helpful to you. UDAs do not necessarily measure your clinical output. High-need patients require more clinical work per UDA than low-need patients. A target range is suggested as a benchmark at the eight month stage, but the variation may be greater.
You may wish to discuss the content of this record with your ES and your TPD so that you have a good understanding of your dental performance.
There is more specific detail here:   Activity Log   

 

Clinical Experience Log

At the end of each month you indicate how many of the treatments below you have provided so your ES and TPD can ensure you gain a broad range of experience. Many fields are self-explanatory, but all the clinical fields refer to the total number of completed cases. (i.e. you can only record one root filling, no matter how many canals the tooth has, or how many visits it requires).
This must be a record of the work you have done in each month, so it does not mean waiting until a course of treatment is ended before recording the treatment here. You will need to be careful in keeping good records of the work you have done so that this is completed accurately and will tally with the work set out on your NHS claims.
There is more specific detail here:    Clinical Log   

 

Significant Event Log

The significant event log is similar to a reflection record in that it requires your reflection upon the event. However, significant events by their nature often involve patient safety so their importance can never be underestimated. Moreover the event may involve other parties and external legal scrutiny of your reflections may occur. For this reason, anonymity is essential, which makes the reflection different from any report you may have made to your practice or to any other body such as an indemnity provider.
Nevertheless, your reflection upon the event and your subsequent actions will show much about your levels of professionalism and understanding of the complexities of clinical care. Your future actions and success, together with the quality of your patient care may be dependent upon the quality of your reflection and analysis, together with any learning needs that stem from your reflection.
The e-portfolio requires you to upload the reflective log as a document. This is best served as a .pdf file.