Professionalism – A Medico-Legal Perspective

Abstract

This article examines the issue of professionalism in relation to dental practitioners, and how it impacts upon the range of medico-legal challenges they might face. It provides an overview of professionalism in a healthcare context and explores some of the characteristics that different parties would associate with it.

The mismatch between these different perspectives and the relative importance that each party attaches to different aspects of professionalism, can often sit at the heart of complaints and litigation.

The article also questions whether or not traditional professional values and behaviours are still relevant in a modern healthcare environment that is increasingly digital, consumerist and competitive – or conversely in such a fast-changing world, whether the need for a modern professionalism is greater than ever.