Unprofessional Conduct, Discipline, and Reporting Obligations
Defining unprofessional conduct
The statute and rules list conduct constituting unprofessional conduct. Common categories include practicing outside scope, practicing while impaired, incompetence or gross negligence, fraud or misrepresentation, failing to maintain records, violating infection control, prescribing improperly, abandoning a patient, and failing to cooperate with a Board investigation. Candidates should understand that the list is illustrative in practice and that conduct reflecting unfitness may qualify even if not specifically enumerated.
Discipline
The Board may impose a range of actions, from dismissal or a letter of concern through censure, probation with conditions, suspension, and revocation, and may impose civil penalties and costs. Know the difference between a summary or interim action to protect the public and a final order after hearing, and the licensee's due process rights.
Reporting obligations
Licensees must report certain matters: adverse events, impairment, and misconduct by other licensees in defined circumstances. Mandatory reporting of suspected child or vulnerable adult abuse follows separate law. Traps include assuming a colleague's impairment may be handled informally, or that a confidential settlement removes the duty to report.
Rule of thumb
For any conduct item, ask: does this conduct relate to fitness to practice? If yes, it can support discipline even without a specific enumerated rule.
Worked example
An item describes a licensee who knows a colleague is practicing while impaired and says nothing. The reporting duty is independent of loyalty to a colleague; silence is itself a violation.