Emeritus Professor Laurence Walsh AO is a specialist in special needs dentistry who is based at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. Professor Laurence has been teaching infection control and clinical microbiology for over 25 years at a postgraduate level and has been the chief examiner in microbiology for the RACDS for the past 20 years.

He has presented invited courses and lectures on infection control across Australia and internationally. He has written over 60 articles on infection control in ADA publications and over 200 articles on clinical microbiology in the dental literature.

He serves on two committees of Standards Australia (personal protective equipment; and instrument reprocessing) and in recent years has been an adviser to the Communicable Diseases Network of Australia and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. Professor Laurence has been a member of the ADA Infection Control Committee since 1998. He has contributed to the development of various infection control protocols, guidelines and checklists and manuals used in Australia. 

This training will be provided in two parts:

1. Online pre-recorded webinar by Professor Laurence Walsh AO. You can access this training by clicking the below link.

Watch the video

2. Online live Zoom Q&A session with Professor Laurence Friday 12th December at 7.00pm (this Q&A will be hosted at the St Lukes Dental Network event, if you cannot attend the event a link will be provided for you to join).

The online pre-recorded webinar will provide you with up-to-date information on the changes in standards for instrument reprocessing and other emerging issues that flow from the replacement of standard 4815 with AS 5369 and the change of ADA Guidelines for Infection Prevention and Control 5th edition.

The topics are designed to support practices in reviewing and updating their procedures for reprocessing. It covers the overarching concepts behind national and international standards, and how they are connected. Content progresses stepwise through phase soft reprocessing from pre-cleaning through to load release. There will also be information on ancillary topics including water testing and the design of the reprocessing area to achieve optimal workflow.

The online Q&A session will provide you with time to speak directly with Professor Laurence for general discussion and to also to ask any questions that have come out of the webinar. Questions can either be submitted ahead of time, via this link, or if time permits asked during the event. 

If you have any further questions regarding this training, please email providers@stlukes.com.au