Psychology Wiki

Assessment | Biopsychology | Comparative | Cognitive | Developmental | Language | Individual differences | Personality | Philosophy | Social |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |

Industrial & Organisational : Introduction : Personnel : Organizational psychology : Occupations: Work environment: Index : Outline


Health personnel are professional personnel working in medical or mental health settings.

Health care practitioners are commonly grouped into four key fields:

  1. Medical (including generalist practitioners and specialists);
  2. Nursing (including various professional titles);
  3. Dentistry;
  4. Allied health professionals, including counsellors, clinical psychologists, pharmacists, physical therapists, paramedical personnel, and many others.

Within each field, practitioners are often classified according to skill level and skill specialization. “Health professionals” are highly skilled workers, in professions that usually require extensive knowledge including university-level study leading to the award of a first degree or higher qualification.[1] This category includes physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physiotherapists, optometrists, and others. Allied health professionals, also referred to as "health associate professionals" in the International Standard Classification of Occupations, support implementation of health care, treatment and referral plans usually established by medical, nursing, and other health professionals, and usually require formal qualifications to practice their profession. In addition, unlicensed assistive personnel assist with providing health care services as permitted.

Another way to categorize health care practitioners is according to the sub-field in which they practice, such as mental health care, pregnancy and childbirth care, surgical care, rehabilitation care, or public health.


they include:



See also[]

References[]

  1. World Health Organization, 2010. Classifying health workers. Geneva http://www.who.int/hrh/statistics/Health_workers_classification.pdf