December - College Of Dental Hygienists of Ontario

Brad Sinclair
It is always worthwhile to revisit the fundamentals
on a regular basis. In this issue of Milestones, I will
return to the fundamentals of professionalism and
focus in particular on the privilege of self-regulation.
Self-regulation is indeed a privilege and, unfortunately, it is one that is often taken for granted or assumed quietly. I submit that quiet
assumptions can lead to problems down the road if they are not restated publicly on a regular basis.
So I begin with a brief history lesson. The word profession comes, not surprisingly, from the word profess. Profess is what
etymologists call a ‘back formation’ of the Middle English word professed. Professed was defined as ‘bound by a religious vow.’
Middle English was the predominant form of English spoken in the English speaking world from c. 1066 through 1485. Surely
a lot of water has passed under the bridge since the heyday of Middle English and while the word profession has largely shed its
religious connotation, it has not shed the sense of honour, responsibility and obligation that it still maintains today. Even in today’s
contemporary English, the term professional implies a sense of respect and conversely the term unprofessional implies an insult.
So it follows with regulated health professionals. I recently fell across a very helpful statement regarding health professionals. While
it was originally written for medical educators, the inherent principles are quite helpful when applied to other health professions – in
this case I apply them to dental hygienists.
Profession: An occupation whose core element is work based upon the mastery of a complex body of knowledge and skills. It
is a vocation in which knowledge of some department of science or learning or the practice of an art founded upon it is used
in the service of others. Its members are governed by codes of ethics and profess a commitment to competence, integrity and
morality, altruism, and the promotion of the public good within their domain. These commitments form the basis of a social
contract between a profession and society, which in return grants the profession a monopoly over the use of its knowledge
base, the right to considerable autonomy in practice and the privilege of self-regulation. Professions and their members are
accountable to those served and to society.
I will walk through this statement line by line and reflect on its application to the dental hygiene profession.
An occupation whose core element is work based upon the mastery of a complex body of knowledge and skills.
Clearly this sentiment applies readily to dental hygiene. The mastery of knowledge and skill starts in an educational setting but
is also maintained throughout the professional career through a variety of learning modalities – not the least of which is regular
clinical practice.
It is a vocation in which knowledge of some department of science or learning or the practice of an art founded upon it is
used in the service of others.
I have worked in the health care sector for c. 27 years now and while I have a vast array of experience and expertise, there is
something fundamental that sets me apart from a health professional. I believe that ‘fundamental something’ is the vocation. A
vocation requires an individual to practise their craft in the direct service of another individual. While my work has always been
4 Milestones December 2012