medical and allied health professionals

1. MEDICAL AND ALLIED
HEALTH PROFESSION

2. The medical profession is a
group of individuals qualified
to practice medicine. Allied
health professions, on the
other hand, are lines of work
that still deal with healthcare,
but are distinct from medicine

3. Who are the allied health
professionals?
•Allied health professionals
are healthcare practitioners
with formal education and
clinical training credentials
through certification,
registration and/or licensure.

4. •These professions
may be categorized
into either
technicians or
Therapists/
Technologists.

5. Technicians
•are those who undergo
training to perform
specific procedures. They
are required to work under
the supervision of
technologists or therapists.

6. • This category includes physical
therapy assistants, medical
laboratory technicians, radiological
technicians, occupational therapy
assistants, recreation therapy
assistants and respiratory therapy
technicians
Technicians

7. Therapists or technologists
• have more intensive training, which
includes acquiring procedural skills.
They evaluate patients, diagnose
conditions, develop treatment plans,
and understand the rationale behind
various treatments in order to judge
their appropriateness and potential
side effects.

8. They also assess patients’ responses
to therapy and make appropriate
decisions about continued
treatment or modification of
treatment plans. Furthermore, they
are licensed to perform these tasks.
Therapists or technologists

9. Allied health professionals
• a. prevention - keep illness or injury from
happening
• b. assessment/evaluation - appraisal of the
condition based on the patient’s subjective
report
• c. identification/diagnosis - analysis based on
signs, symptoms, and laboratory findings
• d. treatment - management and care of a
patient or the combating of disease or
disorder

10. e. rehabilitation/habilitation - treatment
designed to recover from injury, illness, or disease
towards a normal condition as possible
f. advocacy - a method by which patients, their
families, attorneys, health professionals, and
citizens’ groups can work together to develop
programs that ensure the availability of high-
quality healthcare for a community
Allied health professionals

11. • g. promotion of health and well-being - the
process of enabling people to increase control
over their health and its determinants, and
thereby improving their health
• h. education - the process of sharing and gaining
knowledge
• i. research - the diligent inquiry or examination of
data, reports, and observations in a search for
facts or principles
Allied health professionals

12. What are the allied health professions
that we presently have in the
Philippines?
• 1. Audiologist – identifies and
rehabilitates hearing impairments and
related disorders
• 2. Chiropractor - diagnoses and treats
neuromuscular disorders, with emphasis
on treatment through manual
adjustment and/or manipulation of the
spine.

13. 3. Clinical psychologist - assesses, diagnoses,
treats and helps prevent mental disorders
4. Dietitian / Nutritionist - promotes good
health through proper diet and treatment of
diseases
5. Emergency Medical Technician – also
known as ambulance technician; responds
quickly to any emergency and life-threatening
situation to immediately treat serious injuries,
physical or mental trauma to increase a
patient’s chances of survival

14. 6. Guidance Counselor - assists students with personal,
family, education, and career decisions and concerns; also
helps them develop job-finding skills and other life skills
needed to prevent and deal with problems
7. Health Educator - specializes in health education and
promotes the development of health knowledge, life skills,
and positive attitudes toward the health and well-being of
students
8. Massage Therapist - performs the scientific
manipulation of the soft tissues of the body for the
purpose of normalizing those tissues; uses manual
techniques that include applying fixed or movable
pressure onaffected parts of the body

15. 9. Medical assistant – performs, under the
direction of a physician, various routine
administrative and nontechnical clinical tasks
in hospitals, clinics, and other similar facilities
10. Medical technologist – performs a variety
of tasks on body fluids, from simple blood
tests to more complex tests to uncover
abnormalities in the body, and underlying
causes of illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS,
diabetes, and cancer which are not easily
detected through physical examination

16. • 11. Midwife - professionals with the
expertise and skills in helping women
maintain healthy pregnancies, assist in or
perform childbirth delivery, and help in
women’s recovery process through the
postpartum period
• 12. Nurse - trained to provide care for
people who are sick or injured; monitors
patients’ health and records symptoms,
assists physicians during examinations and
treatment, and administers medications.

17. 13. Occupational therapist - uses purposeful
activity and interventions to maximize the
independence and health of any client who is
limited by physical injury or illness, cognitive
impairment, psychosocial dysfunction, mental
illness, or learning disability
14. Orthotist/Prosthetist – makes and fits
prosthetics or artificial parts for the human
body
15. Paramedic - gives emergency medical
treatment or assists medical professionals in
emergency situations

18. 16. Pharmacist - prepares and dispenses
medication prescribed by licensed health
professionals; also provides information to
patients regarding drugs, and consults with
healthcare professionals on advances in drugs
or Medicine.
17. Radiologic Technologist/Radiographer -
healthcare professionals who perform
imaging procedures, such as x-ray
examinations, Magnetic Resonance Imaging
(MRI) scans and Computed Tomography (CT)
scans (health careers.org)

19. 18. Physical Therapist - examines, evaluates,
and treats physical impairments through use
of special exercise, application of heat or cold,
and other physical modalities
19. Speech Language Pathologist - diagnoses
and treats patients with functional and
organic speech defects and disorders
20. Phlebotomist - professionals with special
training in phlebotomy or drawing blood from
patients

20. 21. Radiation therapist - administers
radiation therapy services to patients and
observes patients during treatment; other
duties may include tumor localization, patient
follow-up, patient education, and record
keeping
22. Respiratory therapist - specializes in the
promotion of optimum cardiopulmonary
function and health; regularly deals with
various chronic respiratory diseases, such as
asthma and emphysema

21. 23. Social Worker - investigates, treats,
and gives aid to people with social
problems and helps people with mental
illness, serious health conditions,
financial difficulties, substance abuse
problems, domestic or child abuse,
unwanted pregnancy and other social
problems

22. Allied medical professions available
in other countries
• 1. Cardiovascular technologist - uses imaging
technology to help physicians diagnose
patients with cardiac (heart) and peripheral
vascular (blood vessel) ailments
• 2. Clinical officer - performs general medical
duties such as the diagnosis and treatment of
disease and injury, recommendation and
interpretation of medical tests, performance
of routine medical and surgical procedures,
and referral of patients to other practitioners

23. • 3. Dental hygienist - specializes in the removal
of calcaneous deposits and stains from
patients’ and provides additional services and
information on prevention of oral diseases.
• 4. Diagnostic medical sonographist - uses
ultrasonic imaging devices to produce
diagnostic images, scans, videos, or 3D
volumes of patients’ anatomy
• 5. Kinesiotherapist - develops and monitors
exercise programs to help people regain
muscle strength and function lost due to
injury or disease

24. • 6. Neurophysiologist - specializes in the diagnosis
of conditions affecting the nervous system such
as neuromuscular diseases, epilepsy, and nerve
entrapments
• 7. Medical dosimetrist - designs treatment plans
for patients by means of computer and/or
manual computation to determine a treatment
field technique that will deliver the prescribed
radiation dose while taking into consideration the
dose-limiting structures
• 8. Medical radiation scientist - performs complex
diagnostic imaging studies on patients and plans
and administers radiation treatments

25. 9. Music therapist - uses music within a therapeutic
relationship to address a client’s needs, such as
facilitating movement and physical rehabilitation,
motivating the client to cope with treatment,
providing emotional support, such as an outlet for
expressing their feelings through music
10. Nuclear medicine technologist - performs
imaging procedures using radioactive drugs and
materials to make diagnostic evaluations of the
anatomic or physiologic conditions of the patient’s
body, and facilitates therapy with the use of
unsealed radioactive sources

26. 11. Orthoptist - investigates, diagnoses
and treats defects of binocular vision
and abnormalities related to eye
movement; involves seeing patients of
all ages from infants to the elderly
12. Pedorthist - are foot orthotic and
orthopedic footwear experts trained in
the assessment of lower limb anatomy
and muscle and joint function

27. 13. Perfusionist - assists in
performing procedures that involve
extracorporeal circulation, such as
during open-heart surgery or
hypothermia
14. Surgical technologist - a member
of the surgical team who serves as a
scrub technician or as a circulator

28. generalization
a person who helps identify,
prevent, or treat an illness or
disability
Health Care Provider-

29. generalization
Health Care Practitioner/Provider-
an independent healthcare
provider who is licensed to
practice on and provide general
and/or specialized care to a
specific area of the body.”

30. generalization
Allied Health Professionals
A trained healthcare provider
practicing under supervision of a
physician or healthcare practitioner.
They include pharmacists, dental
hygienists, physical therapists and
nurses