Professional competency: How committed are you to improvement?

The time has arrived when students graduating from colleges and schools of veterinary medicine take the Veterinarian's Oath. Do you recall taking this oath? It states in part, "Being admitted to the profession of veterinary medicine, I solemnly swear(to) accept as a lifelong obligation the continual improvement of my professional knowledge and competence."

Those who received their DVM or VMD degrees many years ago will likelyagree that this ongoing promise encompasses considerable effort and thereforeis more easily said than done. However, if we are sincere about our pledgeof a lifelong commitment to improving our competence, won't you agree thatit is important that we periodically reflect on our progress?

With this goal in mind, consider the following self-assessment questions.

The questions are not designed to measure a specific level of intellectualor technical competency. Rather, their intent is to help us evaluate thelevel of our personal commitment to remain professionally competent. Striveto answer each question in context of the Golden Rule, which states, "Dofor others what you would have them do for you."

Assess yourself

1. Would I choose to follow the advice of a physician whose attitudeabout the importance of continuing to learn and whose desire to remain professionallycompetent were similar to mine?

2. In context of the welfare of my patients, what priority doI place on keeping current with new knowledge published in journals, textbooksand the Internet? How current are the textbooks in my hospital? How oftendo I read them? Have I learned that the next best thing to knowing somethingis knowing where to find it?

3. Do I have a strong desire to learn? Would I regularly attendcontinuing education seminars if there weren't a legal requirement to doso? Do I actively participate in these educational meetings? Am I eagerto be taught what I don't know, recognizing that a post-graduate educationalprogram is vital to continued growth in my knowledge, wisdom and understanding?

4. Am I at times over-confident in my abilities, or am I teachable(i.e. in addition to my own personal experiences, do I have a strong desireto continue to improve my competency by learning from the knowledge, experience,wisdom of others)? Do I recognize that (s)he who will not learn from anyonebut him/herself may have a fool for a teacher? Whereas pride is often increasedby ignorance and makes us prone to mistakes, humility will keep us frombecoming overconfident and will help us to benefit from the counsel of others.

5. Am I striving to attain and apply a level of professional competencethat would allow me to provide the quality of diagnostic evaluation andmedical care that I would desire if I were among the patients in circumstancessimilar to those for whom I provide care? In other words, am I treatingmy patients as I would want to be treated?

6. If I, or a member of my family, faced a life-threatening illness,would I have confidence in the care of a physician with intellectual andtechnical competence comparable to mine?

7. Am I as committed to "learning a living" as I amto "earning a living"?

If we make an honest appraisal of ourselves in answering these questions,likely we all will find areas where we can improve. Why is this so important?Because the precious lives of our patients are dependent on our commitmentto continually improve our knowledge and competence.

In contrast, the recipe for perpetual ignorance is to be content withour knowledge and satisfied with our opinions. To paraphrase Dr. DonaldLow, we should strive to practice 30 to 40 years of veterinary medicinein our professional lifetimes rather than to repeat one year 30 to 40 times.In this context, we are ethically responsible not only for what we do, butalso for what we don't do.

We should always remember that there are some patients that we cannothelp, but there are none that we cannot harm. No patient should be worsefor having seen the doctor. If we sustain our commitment to continuouslyimprove our professional competence with the goal of offering the type ofcare for our patients that we would select for ourselves, it is clear thatour primary motive for doing so is based on the Golden Rule. To this end,the fundamental principle that guides our actions should be the welfareof our patients first...and last.