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I met one of my patients at Pilates this morning. This patient brought in a relative for an evaluation a few days ago. When I looked into the patient's mouth I could clearly see that the elderly woman had received dental care but that it was done by a dentist that was not good at diagnosing complex dental problems. I have 7,000 hours of Continuing Education and much of it with the finest restorative dentists in the world and this is what makes me competent and proficient at treating complex problems.
My patient who I saw at Pilates today said, "She was previously treated by an incompetent dentist."
To that statement I replied, "I don't think that the dentist was incompetent as much as he was NOT competent.
Incompetent means that you KNOW how to treat a problem but that your level of care is below acceptable because you probably don't care.
"Not competent" means that you never achieved an acceptable level of treatment due to a lack of knowledge or skill.
The standard of excellence is that you have attained PROFICIENCY at a skill or task, which is the highest level of care.
Competence means that you perform a task at an acceptable level but no higher.
At this stage of my career....40 years...I EXPECT of myself to be proficient at everything that I do.
I OWE it to you, my patients, to be proficient.
