Professional Ethics, Patient Rights, and Unprofessional Conduct
Ethical duties
Ethical practice centers on patient autonomy, veracity, confidentiality, and competence. Candidates should know that ethical violations can be disciplined even when no statute was broken. Common categories include fraud, misrepresentation, abandonment, boundary violations, and practicing while impaired.
Patient rights
Patients have rights to information, privacy (including HIPAA and state confidentiality rules), refusal of treatment, and access to records. Abandonment - terminating care without notice or transition - is a frequent disciplinary ground. Proper termination requires written notice, reasonable time to find another provider, and emergency instructions.
Unprofessional conduct
Know the statutory list of unprofessional conduct grounds: conviction of certain crimes, substance abuse, false statements on license applications, aiding unlicensed practice, and failure to cooperate with board investigations. A trap is assuming that conduct outside the office (e.g., a DUI) is irrelevant - many such convictions are reportable and disciplinable.
Worked example
A patient misses several appointments, and the dentist sends a letter stating 'you are dismissed effective immediately' with no referral. That is abandonment. The correct approach is written notice, a defined transition period, and emergency contact information. Rule of thumb: termination of the dentist-patient relationship requires notice, time, and transition - not just a letter.
Trap patterns
Questions often present 'dual relationships' or gifts, and ask whether they are prohibited outright or merely risky.