Part One
The term “professional” is often associated with the famous sportsmen and women that are seen in the media all the time, but the general public never really associate “professional” with healthcare workers. According to Welie“a profession is a collective of expert service providers who have jointly and publically committed to always give priority to the existential needs and interests of the public they serve above their own interests, and in turn are trusted by the public to do so.” From this it can be shown that in order to be in a profession, the individual has undergone specialist education, which is what applies to both Medical and Dental graduates as they have undergone this specialist training at university.
When someone thinks of a dentist they immediately conjure up the scary image of a middle aged man that wears glasses and brandishes all the scary instruments in the dental practise. However, being a dentist is a profession rather than an occupation; this means that dentists must act in a professional manner at all times and that they are constantly required to update their knowledge and skills. But just what constitutes acting in a professional manner?
As far as the General Dental Council are concerned, at all times a dentist must act in a way that is respectful to the patient; this includes patient confidentiality, the patients' dental treatment, and being fully competent in the services they are providing. The General Dental Council regard patient confidentiality as being highly important, not only is it a legal requirement for dentists to be confidential, it is unethical for them not to be. In the General Dental Council's Confidentiality Bookletit makes it clear that dentists may only use the patients' information with their consent, or if it is in public interests due to safety measures.
There are many different definitions of professionalism throughout literature. Welie's definition ties in with the idea that dentists must always act in the best interests of their patients; one of the qualities which defines professionalism and which dental students develop in order to work in a professional manner.
Dental students are taught to always respect patients' choices and their dignities. Failure to comply with this can often lead to disciplinary action whether it is just the loss of respect from the patient and community, or it can even be brought up in front of the General Dental Council at a disciplinary hearing. A negative consequence from such a hearing can be the dentist being removed from the list of General Dental Practitioners and losing their license to practice. David Shaw clearly states that it is “unethical to be unprofessional, and unprofessional to be unethical”, from this is can be conceived that everyone should be treated the same. Dentists (and dental students) must not judge their patients based on their race, religion or social background. They should not let their own beliefs and prejudices judge whether someone is worthy of dental treatment or not.
In order for a dentist to act in a professional manner, it is important that they are “fit to practise”. At all times a dentist must act in a way that will not bring disrespect to both their dental practice in which they work, and also to the profession of dentistry. If, at any time, they do so, they can be charged with professional misconduct.
In the University's Fitness to Practise it is aimed to protect patients, the dentists themselves and also to comply with General Dental Council guidelines. It is important that a dental student realises the risks regarding their own healthcare that can affect their patients. An example of this is realising that if they have “a mental or physical impairment likely to jeopardise the wellbeing of patients”. In the guidelines set out by the General Dental Council, any dentist thought to have an impairment that would affect the wellbeing of the patients, could be liable to be charged on professional misconduct.
To summarise, the terms “professionalism and fitness to practise” portray the need for dentists to, at all times, put the patients first and to realise the limitations of both their own health and their own competencies. In terms of being a dental student, professionalism is treating everyone the same regardless of race, religion and social background. It is also important to remember that that everyone should be treated with courtesy and respect and to always be polite to all the patients. Dentists must regard their patients' choices with the upmost respect as they have a right to autonomy which means that they have the final say on decisions that will affect their bodies and their rights to treatment.
Part Two
Part Three
An example of acting in an unprofessional manner can be shown through dental students discussing patients between themselves. The main problem with this is that it is a breach of dentist-patient confidentiality; although a lot of the times, the dental students are not aware that they are acting unprofessional.
An example of acting in an unprofessional manner can be shown through dental students talking during lectures. This is seen as disrupting their fellow colleagues as well as their lecturer.
