Fitness to Practise

Professionalism and fitness to practise are important elements for hygienist-therapists.

When you enter dental school you are taking the first step to becoming a dually qualified dental hygienist-therapist. Hygienist-therapists hold a trusted position in society and come in contact with a wide range of people in the course of their jobs, some of whom may be vulnerable. Therefore your dental school will expect you to display different standards of behaviour from those expected of students on courses that do not lead to professional regulation. Your behaviour at all times, both in the clinical environment and in your personal life, must justify the trust that the public places in you as a future member of the dental profession.

If your behaviour falls outside the standards expected of you as an Oral Health Sciences student your school has an obligation to take action to protect patients and public trust in the profession. They do this through a process which is often called fitness to practise. This is the formal process whereby the dental school investigates lapses in professionalism and applies an appropriate sanction. Depending upon the seriousness of a lapse, sanctions can include; conditions being applied to your continued study on the course, a temporary suspension from the course or exclusion from the dental school.