Let’s talk about Professionalism:

There are some common courtesies that are timeless and always expected from a courteous ethical professional.

As a working professional, it is expected from you to understand the culture of your workplace and thus, it becomes essential to follow some basic professional etiquette, the basis of which stands on the ethics of respecting other individuals in your workplace and displaying courteous behavior when interacting. 

This can have a long-lasting impact on your professional life; your professional etiquette can thus, put you in the good/bad book of your peers, professors, immediate and future supervisors, and patients. Some of you may not know this, but trust me, the dental world is very small – what is heard in one city can be learned across the country!

Your academic knowledge and skills may or may not be spectacular, but do you have the social skills needed to be successful in the workplace? Good professional etiquette indicates to potential employers that you are a mature, responsible adult who can aptly represent their practice. Not knowing proper etiquette could damage your image, the image of the practice, prevent you from getting that position and could jeopardize personal and business relationships.

As a Dental Assisting Student, you will learn to develop professional maturity and social skills. According to the Department of Labor, “There are few things an employer values more than employees who carry out their duties in a professional manner” (Skills that Pay the Bills). These valuable characteristics are often learned over a period of time, gained through experiences, and by watching positive role models or select mentors. 

Note, the Dental Assisting Program will foster a fun nurturing respectful professional environment.  I too expect each of you to perform and conduct yourself in a professional manner through communications, when online, in class, on campus, and even when you are out in public. So let’s identify what it means to be professional.

This Discussion is where we can identify our initial thoughts and considerations of professional ideology. What does the research say about professionalism? Consider some of these characteristics of a professional:

• Professional Development
• Goal-Oriented
•  Attitude 
• Membership of a Professional Organization or Association      
• Ethics

DIRECTIONS: Describe the characteristics of a professional. What makes a person professional or unprofessional?  Provide examples of professionalism that support your opinion(s). Additionally, provide research that supports your claims. Be sure to use APA formatting (citations within your work and the resource(s) at the end of the post). 

We all can learn from each other’s perspectives about professionalism. I am very interested to learn what each of you… 

Think! Believe! and Learn!

The link below can be a tool as a way to initiate conversations in preparation; ask questions and identifying barriers and so forth.

Dissection of Professionalism

Skills that Pay the Bills (n.d.) Professionalism, Department of Labor. Retrieved on June 4, 2020, from https://www.dol.gov/odep/topics/youth/softskills/Professionalism.pdf