Face Cancer
Oral cancer is self-evidently an important topic for dental teams to know about, but knowledge of skin cancer is equally important, though often overlooked in training.
Few professionals get as close to a person’s face on a regular basis as dental teams, placing them in an ideal position to notice changes or abnormalities in skin health.
The face, and the top of the head in bald individuals, is a common area for skin cancer, largely due to its increased exposure to the sun compared to other parts of the body. Around 90% of skin cancers are caused by exposure to the ultra-violet rays of the sun, which can damage (mutate) the cells' DNA. Some of these mutations may cause the cells to divide uncontrollably and become cancerous.
- The course begins with an overview of the structure of normal skin, setting a foundation for understanding pathological changes. We then look into specific conditions, including Actinic Keratosis, a precursor to cancer, and Seborrheic Keratosis, a benign condition, aiding in differential diagnosis.
- The course then covers the most common types of skin cancers: Basal Cell Carcinoma, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, and Malignant Melanoma, providing detailed insights into their characteristics, risk factors, and manifestations.
- We also include the less common types like Kaposi's sarcoma and Merkel-cell carcinoma: this ensures a thorough understanding of skin-related malignancies.
Interactive self-assessment modules reinforce learning, while exam pass notes and opportunities for reflection enhance the overall educational experience.
If you're not yet a member of Dentaljuce, we highly recommend you to join and gain access to our comprehensive course on face (skin) cancer.
This course, along with over 100 other CPD courses, is available for a single membership payment.
Course Review: Face Cancer by Dentaljuce
Overview
Participants expressed highly positive feedback for Dentaljuce's "Face Cancer" CPD module, commending its clarity, relevance, and the practical skills it provided. The course effectively supported dental professionals in recognising, managing, and advising patients on face (skin) cancer, significantly enhancing professional knowledge and patient care.
Key Strengths
Participants particularly valued:
Comprehensive and Clear Content: The module clearly and concisely covered critical information, effectively addressing a complex topic. Participants described it as "very detailed and useful," "clear explanation," and "extremely interesting."
Visual Resources: The extensive use of relevant and clear images was highlighted as particularly beneficial. Learners appreciated these visuals for improving their diagnostic skills and understanding, with comments such as "pictures were very useful" and "excellent module with relevant images."
Practical Application: The module effectively linked theoretical knowledge to practical clinical scenarios, aiding in early recognition and management of skin cancers. Participants noted it offered "good detailed overview" and "useful facts and figures" for patient discussions.
Educational Depth: Participants praised the module's detailed content, acknowledging its educational depth in both pathology and clinical presentation. Comments included appreciation for the "excellent course with fine attention to detail."
Specific Positive Comments
Participants provided numerous enthusiastic comments, including:
- "Excellent synopsis with images of the various cancers for early recognition and referral."
- "Extremely interesting topic, too often underestimated by dental professionals."
- "Very useful, presented the right amount of information and wasn't too heavy in each section."
- "Good detailed overview of skin cancers affecting the head and neck, easy-to-follow format."
- "I thoroughly enjoyed the content of this module."
Suggestions for Improvement
Participants suggested minor improvements:
- Additional guidance on referral pathways for GDPs would enhance the module's practical utility.
- Some suggested clearer labelling or further information about certain clinical images to aid understanding and engagement.
Participant Satisfaction (Closed-Question Summary)
- Met Learning Objectives: 100% strongly agree/agree
- Good Quality: 98.5% strongly agree/agree
- Useful & Relevant: 98.5% strongly agree/agree
- Engaging: 98.5% strongly agree/agree
- Pitched at Right Level: 96.9% strongly agree/agree
These high scores confirm significant satisfaction among participants, strongly endorsing the quality and value of the course.
Final Impression
Overall, the "Face Cancer" CPD module by Dentaljuce was strongly recommended by participants. It provided clear, detailed, and practically relevant content that substantially improved participants' knowledge and confidence in managing and advising patients about skin cancer.
Aim
The aim of the learning and teaching materials in this Dentaljuce module is to allow learners to develop their professional knowledge, understanding and management skills in face (skin) cancer, in line with their identified personal development requirements.
Course objective
- to teach how to recognise face (skin) cancer and pre-cancer.
- to teach the causes, prevention and management.
Anticipated learning outcomes:
The learner will, with respect to the components that he or she has elected to study as listed below:- be able to examine a patient for skin cancer.
- know when to refer suspected lesions.
- be able to advise patients about the causes, prevention, and treatments for face (skin) cancer.
- understand the Practice duty of care with respect to face (skin) cancer.
- through achieving these outcomes, provide an improved level of service to their patients.
GDC Development Outcomes
This CPD will support the learner in meeting the following GDC Development Outcome(s): C, D.