Professionalism

I’m hearing this term thrown around a lot lately, but what does it really mean?  I liked Princeton’s Wordnet definition the best of the few I found; the expertness characteristic of a professional person.  You can find this and more pearls of wise definitions here: wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn  Expertness, implying to be an expert in your field, or specifically this field, Dental Technology.  What does it take to be an expert in this field? Knowledge, and how do we get that, from learning, right?  Where do we learn?  Lectures, yes, ding, ding, ding, ding.  So sign up for the soonest lecture you can attend and learn something!  We can learn terminology, which could enable us to talk to the doctors more, give an air of confidence generally lacking when conversing with doctors.  We can learn more of the material we use and have a greater grasp of why that porcelain pulled away at the margin. Etcetera, etcetera, just some random thoughts on professionalism, does anyone else have any other?

 

Scinece or Art?

I want to hear from anyone and everyone visiting my blog.  Which do you think it is?

 

Outsourcing!

Oh the tangled web…  Currently outsourcing is a controversial practice that brings to mind sweat shops in overseas markets, and a failing job market in the US.  I feel this is  unwarrented, outsourcing in dentistry is not new, and most forms are generally accepted.  Until now most forms have presented themselve in the way of US to US labs who have a particular technology, manufacturing any given resoration for another lab.  The big kicker, hooplah or question now is the same use of foriegn dental labs, mainly due to the “unkown”.   Now if you order a product in the United States, by law, the lab has to provide you with what the materials ordered on the prescritpion.  If the ever watchful eyes of the judicial system (yes I know lady justice is blind) can not see what is going on then how do we know everyone is getting the right thing?  I think outsourcing is getting a bad rap due to over-concerned and threatened lab owners.  The face of business is changing and as business owners we must change with it as well.  Outsourcing is a tool to keep overhead to a minumum and prices to you as low as possible.  If used properly, as a tool to aid our industry, I think it is a great thing.