Health Profession

als

definition of

health professionals

Health professionals maintain health in humans through the application of the principles and procedures of evidence-based medicine and caring. Health professionals study, diagnose, treat and prevent human illness, injury and other physical and mental impairments in accordance with the needs of the populations they serve.

They advise on or apply preventive and curative measures, and promote health with the ultimate goal of meeting the health needs and expectations of individuals and populations, and improving population health outcomes. They also conduct research and improve or develop concepts, theories and operational methods to advance evidence-based health care.

List of health professionals

Occupations in this sub-major group are classified into several minor groups. To facilitate the development of the WHO guidelines for transforming and scaling up health professional education and training, the literature review will focus on the following list of health professionals, as defined by the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO)

Medical Doctors

both Generalist and Specialist Practitioners, including Public Health Doctors (ISCO-08 minor group 221)

diagnose patient conditions using examinations and tests. Based on their findings, they prescribe treatment and medications to attempt to heal any illnesses or injuries. General practitioners and pediatricians have a wide range of medical knowledge, and they are often the first types of doctors who patients visit. Most doctors routinely work in teams, with nurses and aides assisting them in well-lit work locations.

Nursing Professionals

They develop and perform functions that relate to the promotion and maintenance of health as well as to the prevention of ill health. Nursing also includes the planning and implementation of care during illness and rehabilitation, and encompasses the physical, mental and social aspects of life as they affect health, illness, disability and dying.

Dentists Dentists are healthcare professionals who

provide preventive and restorative treatments for problems affecting the mouth and teeth.Dentists' oversight of the clinical team is critical to ensuring safe and effective oral care. Even seemingly routine procedures such as tooth extractions, preparing and placing fillings or administering anesthetics carry potential risks of complications such as infection, temporary or even permanent nerve damage, prolonged bleeding, hematomas and pain.

Pharmacists 

They supply medicines in accordance with a prescription or, when legally permitted.The pharmacist verifies the legality, safety and appropriateness of the prescription order, checks the patient medication record before dispensing the prescription (when such records are kept in the pharmacy), ensures that the quantities of medication are dispensed accurately, and decides whether the medication should be handed to the patient, with appropriate counseling, by a pharmacist. In many countries, the community pharmacist is in a unique position to be fully aware of the patient’s past and current drug history and, consequently, can provide essential advice to the prescriber.