ADEA releases statement on professionalism in dental education

Jul 15, 2009

The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) has released a statement on professionalism in dental education for the academic dental community. Aligned with existing codes of ethics and conduct within the dental education and dental practice communities, the statement helps to define expectations for professional behavior in dental education institutions, the ADEA announced.

The statement includes the values and behaviors that should guide students as they enter the dental and allied dental professions, as well as faculty and administrators as they continuously improve their educational programs.

"The ADEA statement on professionalism in dental education reflects ADEA's commitment to promoting ethical behavior throughout the dental education community," said ADEA President Ronald Hunt, D.D.S., in a press release. "The guidelines will help institutions develop and enhance their own codes, based upon a shared understanding of professionalism and academic integrity."

In March 2008, the ADEA House of Delegates created an ADEA Task Force on Professionalism in Dental Education and charged it with developing the statement. The task force worked to identify and clarify those personal and institutional values and behaviors that support academic integrity and professionalism in dental education: competence, fairness, integrity, responsibility, respect, and service-mindedness. The task force also recommended that "real-life applications" of these values be developed so the concept of professionalism is more easily understood and applied by individuals and institutions.

ADEA hopes that the statement stimulates broad discussions about professional behavior in dental education, provides guidance for individual and institutional behavior within dental education, and in doing so supports professionalism across the continuum of dental education and practice.

To read the entire statement, visit the ADEA Web site.