A medical professional can be held liable for negligence under the following circumstances:

• He did not have the requisite skill which he declared as having; and/or
• He did not exercise, with reasonable competence in the given case, the skill which he possessed.

It must be noted that every professional cannot possess the highest level of expertize or skills in his field. Although a highly skilled professional may have better qualities, but this cannot serve as a benchmark when it comes to judging the performance of another professional charged with negligence.