Advertising your additional qualifications
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Date
2016
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
SADA
Abstract
Advertising of a health professional’s credentials is strictly
regulated with the aim of protecting both the patient’s and
the health professional’s rights. The same ethical principles
govern all forms of advertising, whether published in print,
electronic or other media. Health professionals must
refrain from self-promotion. Unethical behaviour such as
the canvassing and touting for patients is strictly forbidden
by the HPCSA.1 Nowadays, however, advertising on the
Internet has become a norm and every dental practitioner
is ethically and legally responsible for his or her online
websites. This is made clear by the HPCSA who state “if
a health care professional chooses to make known that
he or she practices in a specific field, the health care
professional assumes a legal and ethical responsibility for
having acquired a level of professional competence within
the field of expertise which must be demonstrable and
acceptable to his or her peers”. By advertising services
that one is not trained to provide, the principle of nonmaleficence
(do no harm) becomes significant.
Description
Keywords
Health professional’s credentials, Self-promotion, Advertising online
Citation
Naidoo, S. (2016). Advertising your additional qualifications. South African Dental Journal, 71(1): 39