MODULE IN HEALTH (2)

Medical and Allied Health Professions

- 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. They have distinct and specialized knowledge and skills that
actively work with people accessing health and disability that are offered services across
a range of settings. These professions include clinical laboratory or medical technology,
physical therapy, occupational therapy, dietetic services, medical record personnel,
radiologic services, speech language pathology and audiology, and respiratory therapy.

Who are the medical and allied health professionals?

- Allied health professionals are healthcare practitioners with formal education and clinical
training credentials through certification, registration and/or licensure. They collaborate
with physicians and other members of the healthcare team to deliver high quality patient
care services for the identification, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disabilities, and
disorders.

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

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.”

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.

Allied health professionals provide services and engage in activities which include:

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

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

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.

What are the allied health professions that we presently have in the Philippines?

These are the common allied health professionals practicing in the country with available
education and professional training.

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.

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

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 on affected parts of the body

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

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.

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

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)

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

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

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.

There are also allied medical professions whose specialized training is 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

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

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

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
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

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.

Let’s Check

Activity 1: A HEALTH CAREER OVERSEAS?

Answer these questions

1. What do you think of health professionals who practice their field of specialization outside the
country?
2. Do you have relatives working overseas as a medical or allied health professional? What are the
reasons for them to work in other countries?
3. Are you familiar with the doctors to the Barrio program of the Department of Health? Why are
these professionals important to society?

Activity 2:
HEALTH CAREERS IN THE COUNTRY
Answer these questions.
1. Select five medical and allied professions that very much needed in our country
2. With the growing global demand on allied health professions, how does it affect our country?
3. Do you think we have enough allied health professionals in our country? What made you say
so?

Activity 3: REFLECT

A. How do you see yourself?

Minimum of 5 sentences maximum of 8 sentences.

…. TODAY ….. AFTER GRADE 10 ….. SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

B. Complete this charts.

Career path I am interested to Personal qualities that School subjects that I like……..
do……….. describe me…….

C. Based on your answer in the chart, answer these questions.

1. What health career do you think would suit you best based on your interests and skills?
2. Can your personal qualities help you perform and excel in the health career path you want to
venture?
3. Are you learning enough from your previous subjects to help you achieve your health career
path? Why or why not?
4. Do you think you are ready to take a health career path? What are your strengths and
weaknesses?

Activity 4: List down three health careers that interest you the most. Identify the pros and cons
of each career.

Health career that interests What are the PROS? What are the CONS?
me..

Answer these questions.

1. Which health career is best aligned with your values, interests and skills? Are there any risks?
Are you willing to take them? Why?
2. Which health career fulfills both your current and future goals?
3. What health career will you choose that will help you create the life you want to live doing
the work you will love to do?