Allied health professionals

Allied health professionals provide medical treatments as part of their profession. They perform tasks alongside the medical practitioner (the doctor). An allied health professional is therefore not a doctor, but someone who provides care independently or under the supervision of a doctor (or dentist).

The title allied health professional is a general term and is not, in itself, a position or qualification. Training for an allied health profession enables an allied health professional to perform a specific role or obtain a specific qualification. Examples of allied health professionals include physiotherapists, podiatrists, speech pathologists and diëtitians. Allied health professions exist at various levels. Some allied health professions can be studied at university at master's level.

On this page, you can read more about various allied health professions.

An overview of medical practitioners can be found on the medical specialists page.