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www.dental-update.co.uk

From Volume 39, Issue 5, June 2012 | Pages 310-311

Authors

Stuart Thompson

Managing Director

Articles by Stuart Thompson

Article

Dear Subscriber…

From being the first journal to offer CPD via the internet from our website in 2002, we now feel it is time we modernized the whole site to bring all our editorial expertise in line with publishing practices of the year 2012.

Since 2002, we have seen the introduction of Google, iPhones, iPads, Kindles, Facebook, Twitter and, even more surprisingly, three Ashes victories and a new dental contract, after a series of pilots, but Dental Update's website has not changed since its inception.

We all hear the phrase, ‘don't fix it if it ain't broke’ and it's not, and the website's usage has been spectacular. Here are some facts we can boast about over the last ten years of the website's usage.

  • Dental Update has issued over 542,000 hours of CPD.
  • 9500 unique subscribers have participated in our Electronic CPD program.
  • 1,000,000 articles have been searched and downloaded by GDPs and students from the site; 100,000 per annum.

    • So no, the site is not broken, but it is time to improve and redesign.

    All Subscribers need to migrate their account to the new Dental Update website. These are the instructions you need to follow to activate your account.

    Step-by-step instructions

  • Located at the top right-hand corner of the home page is the login box, click on the HELP button to go to the User Login page.
  • In the User Login page enter your Surname and DU number in the fields near the bottom of the page. Click on Submit.
  • On the Update User Account page select whether to use your email address or a system-generated ID to Login – we strongly recommend using an Email Address as this should be easier to remember and will enable all features of the site. Click on Continue.
  • In the following Update User Account Details page, check your existing Account Details and Enter and Confirm your chosen Password. Click on the Terms and Conditions link to read the new T&Cs of the site and tick the Acceptance Box. Click on Continue.
  • Email address users: The new site confirms ownership of your Email Address by sending you an email entitled ‘Dental Update – update account email confirmation’. You will be asked either to Click on the link to verify your Email Address, or to Enter the Confirmation Code in the field provided on the webpage. Click on Continue.
  • Non-Email Address users: Please note your new system-generated User ID; you will need this to login next time.

    • You have now successfully created your Account! No need to go to the bin for the polythene bag!

    This will be a one-off process. For all future Logins please enter your new User ID/Email Address and Password into the Login Box fields and Click on LOGIN.

    The search facility from issues published from June 2012 will go straight to the first page of the paper, not just the clinical relevance or abstract part of the paper.

    You will be able to search by year, issue, author, subject, word, with a friendly search engine offering a great visual approach; finding research from Dental Update will be far easier than on the previous website.

    Searching something as small as a word, the search engine will find and offer you a menu, then the relevant issue and the paper – it will be that thorough!

    The presentation will be stunning, and can be accessed from all computers via the web and you will also be able to view on iPad, but it will not be downloadable to a Kindle.

    Participating in the CPD program online will be the biggest reform, making it a lot more user friendly; having the article next to the question will enable you to refer back to check that your answer is the correct one.

    To answer the question is to agree or disagree with the statement from part of the article, as you have been doing over the past 10 years.

    Each question will be linked to the article and each question answered will offer you 26 minutes, one tenth of the total CPD hours that Dental Update offers per issue.

    We will still be collating all your answers and storing them, enabling you to download your certificate by each issue or our recommendation, each calendar year. You will only be able to have one of each option.

    Please be aware that we will be at the end of the phone to help you if you have any queries re the CPD and there will be the FAQ section for immediate answers if you are choosing to do your CPD out of hours.

    One big development is that we have added a chance for you to interact with fellow subscribers about each paper we publish.

    We can offer you a chance to give your comments about each paper. It is not a forum, but an opportunity for you to have your say, offering feedback and an opinion of the relevance of the paper, by offering you ‘Star Marks’.

    We will be making further changes to the site, with an interactive journal, webinars and soon interactive papers that can be downloaded to your desktop or IT device, along with webinars from our lectures.

    We are delighted with this development, now taking Dental Update into the new electronic decade while continuing to provide clinical excellence for the GDP and proving that a subscription to the journal is true value for money.

    The new website also introduces our new member benefits section, offering discounts for subscribers from all leading companies and supplying GDPs with essential products that are used in practice on a daily basis, as well as discounts on insurances, and a special exclusive offer from Software of Excellence: a free business practice check-up, providing free business advice for a more profitable surgery.

    All this can be found on the new www.dental-update.co.uk

    In addition, Dental Update continues to be the peer-reviewed journal providing you clinical information the way YOU want to receive it!