Allied health professions

Allied health professions (AHPs) are a category of health professionals that provide a range of diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, and rehabilitative services in connection with health care. While there is no international standard for defining the diversity of allied health professions, they are typically considered those which are distinct from the fields of medicine, nursing and dentistry.^[1][2]

In providing care to patients with certain illnesses, AHPs may work in the public or private sector, in hospitals or in other types of facilities, and often in clinical collaboration with other providers having complementary scopes of practice. Allied health professions are usually of smaller size proportional to physicians and nurses. It has been estimated that approximately 30% of the total health workforce worldwide are AHPs.^[3]

In most jurisdictions, AHPs are subject to health professional requisites including minimum standards for education, regulation and licensing. They must work based on scientific principles and within an evidence based practice model.^[3] They may sometimes be considered to perform the role of mid-level practitioners, when having an advanced education and training to diagnose and treat patients, but not the certification of a physician. Allied health professionals are different from alternative medicine practitioners, also sometimes called natural healers, who work outside the conventions of modern biomedicine.