We took this for granted in our practice for a long while until I spoke to other dentists about it and realised that not everybody does this.
We developed a system in the practice independently; I don’t know where it came from but some time ago we decided that all of our difficult decisions would be based upon ‘like a member of your own family’
When we encounter a situation clinically or in the practice as a whole where we have difficulty deciding, we sit together and try and apply it as though the individuals involved are members of our own family and this is how we deal with it.
Of course, this doesn’t always go as you think because whereas, in a situation where a patient presents with, for example a tumour then of course we want them treated exactly the way one of our family members would be treated but when someone at the practice or even a patient is acting like a d*&k then we have to be strong, as we would with a family member.
Listening to David Winkler lecture for the practice recently he discussed the sister test which is exactly the same concept with other people use and of course, it is relatively widely thought of through the profession but there are still many people out there who don’t seem to get this.
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