Fitness to study or practice and professional capability

This is used when, despite all efforts to support a student, their health has significantly impacts on their or others' ability to study.

Many students have physical or mental health concerns and only a very small proportion across QMUL will ever need to be subject to this. Where there are no professionalism concerns, this means students do not need to be subject to the Professional Capability process that the GDC requires.

When a student has done something deemed unprofessional e.g. in association with substance misuse, we would invoke this policy before referring to the Professional Capability Committee. This is because it allows the student to demonstrate that they have positively responded to the conditions laid out from this procedure and this is professional behaviour. We hope this will make the Professional Capability process more straightforward.

The key message here is to seek help early, take responsibility for your situation, make changes and avoid breaching any of the GDC's nine principles.

Professional Capability refers, in the broadest sense, to a student’s health and behaviour being compatible with the expectations of the General Dental Council. Please see the link below to the GDC's Student Professionalism and Fitness to Practise guidance.

When a student's health is impacting their studies but we are not concerned that any of the GDC's nine principles have been breached, we will usually use the QMUL-wide Student Fitness to Study policy as this does not refer to professionalism.

However, where a student fails to take responsibility for their health or condition, or they act in a way that breaches one of the nine principles, we are required to refer to the Professional Capability Committee (PCC), who invoke this policy.

This is because QMUL is required to certify its confirmation that a graduate from a primary dental qualification or professional dental care programme has demonstrated that they are fit to practise upon graduation. When a graduating student registers with the GDC, they will be asked if they have had any formal investigations into professional conduct and must say yes if they have been subject to a PCC.

The key message is to seek help early, take responsibility and avoid breaching any of the nine GDC ethical principles.

This guidance sets out the principles of professional behaviour expected of you during your training to become a registered dental professional. It applies to all students training to become a member of the dental team registered by the General Dental Council (GDC).

The important thing from the SSO perspective is that you seek help for any problems early so that they do not become professionalism issues. Principle nine is particularly relevant to student well-being issues such as drug use. So long as students take responsibility for their health issue, take steps to improve it and have not done anything to bring their professionalism into question, then they have not breached these principles.