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Professionalism and dental education: in search of a shared understanding

British Dental Journal volume 232, pages 470–474 (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

Professionalism has profound historical origins; however, the current health care environment in the UK dental sphere is changing, which presents new professional dilemmas that require continued learning and debate. Professionalism is a key aspect of the education of dental students and the lifelong learning and development of dental practitioners. However, 'being' professional can be challenging because while it is recognised as a social good, there is much debate on what professionalism means and how best it can be learned and assessed. Since 2017, the UK Council for the Dental Teachers of Professionalism, consisting of educators from UK dental schools and dental therapy hygiene institutions, has been exploring and debating the role and place of professionalism, as well as sharing challenges and good practice within UK dental education. This paper includes a narrative overview of current thinking in the academic literature on professionalism to consider the use of a shared understanding of professionalism to facilitate conversations between various stakeholders.

Key points

  • Professionalism is often seen as an umbrella term referring to anything that is not a technical skill. Although complex, it is often oversimplified and referred to as 'soft skills' in many contexts to try and manage this complexity.

  • Professionalism affects every individual on the dental register - often unconsciously, unless a minimum standard is breached. Educating for and developing professionalism is a lifelong process that requires careful consideration relating to learning and assessment.

  • A mutually agreed understanding may be a pragmatic starting point to enable meaningful conversations across various contexts.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge all members of the UK Council for the Dental Teachers of Professionalism for their input into the ongoing work of the group that has led to this position paper. Members are listed on the website http://www.dtop.org.uk and can be contacted via the corresponding author and founder of DToP or the current chair of DToP .

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Professor of Primary Care Dentistry, Peninsula Dental School, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK

    Sally Hanks

  2. Clinical Senior Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Dental Education, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Amitha Ranauta

  3. Consultant in Public Health, Public Health Wales, UK

    Ilona Johnson

  4. Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer, School of Dental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK

    Heidi Bateman

  5. Senior Clinical Lecturer in Ethics and Dental Education, Centre for Dental Education, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, King´s College London, London, UK

    Melanie Nasseripour

  6. Lecturer in Social Sciences, Bristol Dental School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    Patricia Neville

Authors
  1. Sally Hanks
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  2. Amitha Ranauta
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  3. Ilona Johnson
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  4. Heidi Bateman
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  5. Melanie Nasseripour
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  6. Patricia Neville
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Contributions

The authors confirm contribution to the paper as follows: Sally Hanks contributed to the manuscript conception and design. Sally Hanks, Ilona Johnson, Patricia Neville, Heidi Bateman, Melanie Nasseripour and Amitha Ranauta helped with draft manuscript preparation. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sally Hanks.

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Hanks, S., Ranauta, A., Johnson, I. et al. Professionalism and dental education: in search of a shared understanding. Br Dent J 232, 470–474 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-022-4094-0

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