Health Care Professionals

Written by Doc Team Wednesday, 28 July 2010 18:51

Professional manpower in the field of health care includes chiropractors, dentists, dental hygienists, licensed therapists, physicians, podiatrists, registered nurses, and a host of others. In the United States counts of these professionals include only those licensed in the state where they  practice, with licensure usually requiring the completiom of an appropriate degree or certificate program for that profession.

In international counts prepared by the World Health Organization only those professionals active in their profession are counted. Professionals may be classified according to specialy, place of practice, or other criteria.

Physicians are at the top of the manpower pyramid, and for most purposes they lead the health team in the delivery of medical care. A physician is either a licensed doctor of medicine (M.D) or a doctor of osteopathy (D.O). A physician's specialty is any specific branch of medicine that a physician may concentrate in.

The specialty classification used by the Bureau of Health Professions and the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) follows the American Medical Association categories. Primary care specialties include general practice (or family practice), internal medicine, and pediatrics. Medical specialties include, along with internal medicine and pediatrics, the areas of allergy, cardiovascular disease, dermatology, gastroenterology, pediatric allergy and cardiology, and pulmonary diseases.

Surgical specialties include general surgery, neurologic surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology, ortopedic surgery, otolaryngology, plastic surgery, colon and rectal surgery, thoracic surgery, and urology. Other specialties covered by NAMCS are geriatrics, neurology, preventive medicine, psychiatry, and public health. Other specialties covered by the Bureau of Health Professions include aerospace medicine, anesthesiology, child psychiatry, neurology, occupational medicine, pathology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, psychiaty, public health, and radiology.