Health profession

Encyclopedia : H : HE : HEA : Health profession

A health profession is a profession in which a person exercises skill or judgment or provides a service related to:

the preservation or improvement of the health of individuals, or
the treatment or care of individuals who are injured, sick, disabled, or infirm.

The delivery of modern health care depends on an expanding group of highly trained professionals coming together as an interdisciplinary team. Individuals are called health professionals if they participate in delivery of health care in some way. Thus, it is a rather broad term.

Examples of members of the health professions

Medical doctors have specializations on the medicine page. Often included as adjunct to allopathic medicine are osteopaths who are licensed with the same limitations and privileges as medical doctors. Dentistry, optometry, podiatry, and psychology, while separate disciplines from medicine, are often considered medical fields in the wider definition of the term. These practitioners are granted independent license to practice medicine and surgery and provide or prescribe medications within their fields. Practitioners such as physician assistants, nurse practitioners and midwives also treat patients and prescribe medication in many legal jurisdictions; however, they do so under the direction and supervision of an independently licensed practitioner.

Medical professional in its broadest sense denotes a person involved in a skilled medicine or health related occupation, such as:

physician assistants and dental hygienists
nurses of various qualifications, and nursing assistants
pharmacists
Medical technologists
hospital corpspeople in a military organisation
paramedics and emergency medical technicians
technicians specialising in respiratory care and x-ray photography
trained first responders such as most lifeguards and many firefighters and police officers
medical assistants working side by side with physicians and other members of the health care team mostly in private or group medical practices and clinics
biomedical equipment technicians or bmets responsible for maintaining and repairing medical and patient care equipment in hospitals
medical librarians acquire, organize and disseminate health information to health care professionals and health care consumers

The foundation sciences underpinning human medicine overlap veterinary medicine, which includes both veterinarians and veterinary technicians (also veterinary technologist).

Health profession

Examples of members of the health professions

See also