Are Medical and Allied Health Professions Interconnected for Holistic Care?

There are medical professionals – doctors and nurses, and allied health practitioners such as physical and occupational therapists. While the medical and allied health professions are categorized separately, the degree of interaction between the two of them is quite significant. Here’s how the medical and allied health professions are interconnected for holistic care.

Understanding Medical Professions

Medical and allied health professionals often work in the same facilities. Medical professionals practice the art and science of medicine. They are certified or licensed under federal or state laws to provide healthcare services.

• Overview of Medical Professions: Medical professionals, who usually have at least one degree, have specialized knowledge of medicine and follow a code of ethics that puts patient care above self-interest. These professions include physicians, nurses, chiropractors, and clinical psychologists. Counselors, dentists, health administrators, optometrists and pharmacists also fit into this category. Physician assistants, podiatrists, and veterinarians fall under this heading too.
• Roles and Responsibilities in Patient Care: Working in a variety of settings, medical professionals perform patient examinations and diagnose conditions. They can also help patients manage their conditions, order diagnostics and lab tests, as well as prescribe treatments.
• Emphasis on Disease Diagnosis and Treatment: The medical field emphasizes the diagnosis and treatment of conditions, as well as cues. This distinguishes it from that of allied health practitioners, who focus on prevention and rehabilitation.

Exploring Allied Health Professions

The role of allied health professionals usually supports the work of medical professionals.

• Definition and Scope: Allied health practitioners provide a range of technical, diagnostic, therapeutic, and support services. In other words, if you’re interested in allied health, you have a lot of career options.

The list of such practitioners is exhaustive and includes athletic trainers, anesthesia technicians, audiologists, cardiovascular technicians, and dental assistants. Other opportunities in this area include dietitians, physicians, and occupational therapists, as well as electrocardiogram technicians. Emergency medical technicians, exercise physiologists, certified nursing assistants, and surgical technologists are also considered allied health practitioners.

• Complementary Roles in Patient Care: Working in an allied health role, you’ll typically collaborate with medical professionals to provide care. For example, your work can complement a doctor’s care plan. In many cases, your tasks will permit other healthcare professionals to perform their work more efficiently.
• Focus on Rehabilitation, Prevention, and Supportive Care: The medical and allied health professions are similar. However, rather than diagnosis and treatment, allied health practitioners focus on prevention and recovery.

The Synergy Between Medical and Allied Health Professions

There is a great deal of synergy between medical and allied health professions. While doctors have overarching responsibility for patient care, allied health professionals have expertise and training that complement that of doctors. 

Holistic Care: Bridging Medical and Allied Health Professions

Holistic care – a whole-body approach to healthcare – bridges the medical and allied health fields. Those in medical and allied health professions often collaborate to deliver holistic and comprehensive care.

• Understanding Holistic Care in the Context of Interconnected Professions: Physical and mental health are interconnected. That’s why, when a person seeks treatment, it’s important to consider both aspects of their health. That’s what is meant by holistic care. For example, a psychiatrist might recommend a patient see a dietician for help with an eating disorder.
• Importance of Holistic Approaches in Enhancing Patient Outcomes: As a basic tenet of holistic care, the whole patient must be treated. Understanding patients’ emotional, physical, and spiritual needs can help with the provision of optimal care—and improve outcomes.
• Integration of Medical and Allied Health Practices for Comprehensive Care: Integrated healthcare is marked by a great deal of collaboration between medical and allied health professions, depending upon the needs of the patient. Information is often shared, and comprehensive patient treatment plans are developed based on that data.

Why Wanderly is Your Best Choice?

There’s a great deal of interconnection between medical and allied health practitioners in holistic, comprehensive care. You’ll see this firsthand when you work in one of these fields. As you embark upon this journey, Wanderly can help you secure the best traveling allied practitioner assignments available. Providing comprehensive information to help you choose your ideal travel job, Wanderly puts your needs and desires first.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Do medical and allied health professions require college degrees?

While medical and allied health professions can require graduate degrees, many entry-level allied health positions only call for associate degrees.

2. Are allied health practitioners in demand?

There is a projected shortage of qualified individuals to serve as allied health practitioners. So, yes, there is a great demand for such professionals.

3. What are the main categories of allied health practitioners?

The main categories of allied health practitioners are primary care providers, health promotion, rehabilitative professionals and diagnostic professionals.