title: Governing the profession--us or them?
abstract: Most dentists are heartily sick of the George Bernard Shaw quotation 'The professions are a conspiracy against the laity.' It seems to be the first phrase that pops into the mind of a non-professional when the question of self-regulation in the professions is discussed. It makes no difference at all that the true professions--including dentistry--have as a fundamental ethos the priority of a client's interests over the self-interest of the professional. Perhaps the non-professional, in this day and age, is much too hooked on the Gordon Milken ethos 'Greed is good', and assumes that everyone is alike.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wall
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D003813:Dentistry / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008005:Licensure, Dental; D011364:Professional Practice; D012926:Social Control, Formal