Responsibility Of Dental Profession

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31768, 27 August 1968, Page 15

Responsibility Of Dental Profession

Constant learning and the finding of new ways of using skills were essential, Dr D. Poswillo, senior oral surgeon at the Burwood Hospital, said at an inaugural dinner held In Christchurch by the New Zealand fellows of the Australian College of Dental Surgeons.

“In our professional lives, the day we stop learning is the day we retire from practice, for lifelong habits are not easily shaken off,” Dr Poswillo said. Dentists should widen their sphere of service and find new ways of using their skills, he added.

He spoke of the speed oi communicating ideas today and said that this speed also applied to the growth and spread of public opinion.

"It behoves all of us who spend so much time communicating difficult concepts to the public at large to take special precautions not to be misunderstood.” added Dr Poswillo. A profession set standards of ethical, honest workmanship, and judgment and thought. The profession Itself must be the ultimate target—not the gain that might accrue. “The staff of Apollo, with the entwined serpent, should not be confused with the dollar sign, though there are the few within the profession and the many outside who sometimes look upon it so,” he said. Objective Judgments Another responsibility that the college should recognise and foster was for its members to make careful judgments. "The world of today stands

In desperate need of those who can weigh factors, look on them objectively and come up with a sound solution,” Dr Poswillo said. “That has been our training, and it is the standard of training which we have laid down for future entry into the college. We must, if we are true to our ideals, carry over that ability into the problems that are, in many cases, the result of this world in change.” Dr Poswillo said members' education and training put on them the requirement that they use the talents of objectivity and clear thinking in all fields of thought and action —national or international, political, economic or social. “We are looked to for that kind of judgment based on a liberal understanding of the facts. We have the prestige of professional men—let us use this honour wisely.

“Let us be articulate too. There is no profit to us in our profession if we remain eold, precise and perfect to the extent that in order not to speak wrong, we never speak at all and in order not to do wrong, never do anything.”

Photographic Club.—Results of the New Brighton Photographic Club’s third set subject, "Fantasy,” were:—Monochrome acceptance: S. Lundy’s “Bacon will be High” and “Bambi in Knots.” Colour acceptances: S. Lundy’s “Finger Folk,” N. C. McKenzie’s “Nature Spray,” S. Fudseth’s “Ode De Fantasy,” E. Barbarel’s “Keep Your Hat On” and “Flippers Mate,” W. Behague’s “Pop Group.”