SAS Welcome
Welcome to the SAS scheme. The SAAD National Course gives you the essential underpinning knowledge and introduces the clinical skills needed for sedation. After the course, you’ll build on this through supervised clinical experience before moving on to independent practice.
Stages
National course info
Please click here to take you to information about the National Course.
Getting your supervisor approved
You’ll need to nominate a supervisor to support you during your clinical experience. Your supervisor will need to demonstrate the required knowledge, skills and experience outlined here.
Supervisors are expected to have completed a minimum of 50 cases of the technique being supervised, over the preceding two-year period or be able to evidence active involvement in sedation supervision or teaching.
Please email a completed supervisor nomination form to schemes@saad.org.uk. You can use the Supervisor Nomination Form to submit the details.
Please name your supervisor nomination form as follows
SAS 202?-?? SURNAME Forename – SNF – Supervisor name IS/IV/IS&IV.pdf
Our team will review your supervisor nomination form and either send it to our assessors for approval or get back to you if we need any further information. To help avoid delays, please make sure every question has been answered. Points include:
· We need a number for cases in the preceding 2 years. Statements such as ‘around 2 per week’ are too vague.
· The digital form is easy for us to read. If it is handwritten, please make sure it is clear.
· Please make sure every question has been answered and your supervisor has signed the form.
· Use 1 form for 1 supervisor only.
SNFs are reviewed weekly in the run up to your course, and for the month following. After which we review forms on the 1st and 3rd week of the month.
The course includes the review and approval of up to three supervisors. We keep this limit in place so candidates can build a good working relationship with their supervisor and benefit from meaningful feedback.
Supervised Clinical Experience and Portfolios
Once you have attended the National Course, had your supervisor approved and passed the assessment, you can begin your supervised clinical experience. We recommend waiting until these steps are complete before booking cases.
When you reach this stage, we’ll give you access to the SAS In Progress pages. There, you’ll find templates for your Clinical Logbook, DOPS, Practice Evaluation Checklist and Document Submission Checklist. These will appear under the MY SAAD tab.
Dops are to be completed with your supervisor after each case. Key things to remember here are:
- Titration; for IS drugs evidence of titration should be seen in your portfolio.
- Units; please make sure these are written on your DOPS (e.g. mg for IV drugs)
- Commentary; your supervisor should be providing feedback on each case as you engage with clinical cases.
Submission and deadlines
Please submit all your documents to SAS@saad.org.uk for moderation within 12 months of attending the SAAD National Course. Once you reach this stage, you’ll find information on how to submit your documents under the SAS In Progress tab. This includes our convention for naming files before you submit.
You can submit your documents at any time within the 12 months. They will be reviewed by our in-house team, and either sent back to you for further information, or sent to our assessors on the following submission dates.
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Your Paperwork deadline
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Submission to Assessors
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March 31 2027
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21 April 2027
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June 30 2027
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21 July 2027
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August 31 2027
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21 Sept 2027
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November 30 2027
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21 Dec 2027
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Therefore please be aware of the time between submission and certification.
Successful practitioners will receive a SAAD certificate confirming ‘SAAD Assessed Seditionist’ status which will enable you to practise independently.
Issues
We understand that things don’t always go exactly to plan. If you need advice or think you may need an extension, please get in touch and we’ll do our best to help.
Contacts
If you have any questions or concerns at any stage, please contact SAS@saad.org.uk. We’ll be happy to help.
Please include the name you booked under, your scheme (SAS) and cohort year in your email so we can look up your details quickly. For example:
SAS 2006-06 SURNAME, Name (dentists in the June 2026 cohort)
SAS 2006-03 SURNAME, Name (dentist in the March 2026 cohort).
SAS 2006-11 SURNAME, Name (dentist in the Nov 2026 cohort).