Health Care Provider- a person who helps identify,
prevent, or treat an illness or disability
Health Care Practitioner/ Provider- an independent
healthcare provider who is licensed to practice on
and provide general and/or specialized care to a specific
area of the body.
Allied Health Prefessionals- a trained healthcare provider
practicing under supervision of a physician or healthcare
practitioner.
Allied health professionals provide services and engage in
activities which
include:
a. prevention - keep illness or injury from happening
b. assessment/evaluation - appraisal of the condition based
on the patient’s subjective report
c. identification/diagnosis - analysis based on signs,
symptoms, and laboratory findings
d. treatment - management and care of a patient or the
combating of disease or disorder
e. rehabilitation/habilitation - treatment designed to
recover from injury, illness, or disease towards a normal
condition as possible
f. advocacy - a method by which patients, their families,
attorneys, health professionals, and citizens’ groups can
work together to develop programs that ensure the
availability of high-quality healthcare for a community
g. promotion of health and well-being - the process of
enabling people to increase control over their health and its
determinants, and thereby improving their health
h. education - the process of sharing and gaining
knowledge
i. research - the diligent inquiry or examination of data,
reports, and observations in a search for facts or principles
What are the allied health professions that we presently
have in the Philippines?
1. Audiologist – identifies and rehabilitates hearing
impairments and related disorders
2. Chiropractor - diagnoses and treats neuromuscular
disorders, with emphasis on treatment through manual
adjustment and/or manipulation of the spine.
3. Clinical psychologist - assesses, diagnoses, treats and
helps prevent mental disorders
4. Dietitian / Nutritionist - promotes good health through
proper diet and treatment of diseases
5. Emergency Medical Technician – also known as
ambulance technician; responds quickly to any emergency
and life-threatening situation to immediately treat serious
injuries, physical or mental trauma to increase a
patient’s chances of survival
6. Guidance Counselor - assists students with personal,
family, education, and career decisions and concerns; also
helps them develop job-finding skills and other life skills
needed to prevent and deal with problems
7. Health Educator - specializes in health education and
promotes the development of health knowledge, life skills,
and positive attitudes toward the health and well-being of
students
8. Massage Therapist - performs the scientific manipulation
of the soft tissues of the body for the purpose of
normalizing those tissues; uses manual techniques that
include applying fixed or movable pressure on affected
parts of the body
9. Medical assistant – performs, under the direction of a
physician, various routine administrative and nontechnical
clinical tasks in hospitals, clinics, and other similar facilities
10. Medical technologist – performs a variety of tasks on
body fluids, from simple blood tests to more complex tests
to uncover abnormalities in the body, and underlying causes
of illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and cancer which
are not easily detected through physical examination
11. Midwife - professionals with the expertise and skills in
helping women maintain healthy pregnancies, assist in or
perform childbirth delivery, and help in women’s recovery
process through the postpartum period
12. Nurse - trained to provide care for people who are sick
or injured; monitors patients’ health and records symptoms,
assists physicians during examinations and treatment, and
administers medications.
13. Occupational therapist - uses purposeful activity and
interventions to maximize the independence and health of
any client who is limited by physical injury or illness,
cognitive impairment, psychosocial dysfunction,
mental illness, or learning disability
14. Orthotist/Prosthetist – makes and fits prosthetics or
artificial parts for the human body
15. Paramedic - gives emergency medical treatment or
assists medical professionals in emergency situations
16. Pharmacist - prepares and dispenses medication
prescribed by licensed health professionals; also provides
information to patients regarding drugs, and consults with
healthcare professionals on advances in drugs or medicine
17. Radiologic Technologist/Radiographer - healthcare
professionals who perform imaging procedures, such as x-
ray examinations, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
scans and Computed Tomography (CT) scans
18. Physical Therapist - examines, evaluates, and treats
physical impairments through use of special exercise,
application of heat or cold, and other physical modalities
19. Speech Language Pathologist - diagnoses and treats
patients with functional and organic speech defects and
disorders
20. Phlebotomist - professionals with special training in
phlebotomy or drawing blood from patients
21. Radiation therapist - administers radiation therapy
services to patients and observes patients during treatment;
other duties may include tumor localization, patient follow-
up, patient education, and record keeping
22. Respiratory therapist - specializes in the promotion of
optimum cardiopulmonary function and health; regularly
deals with various chronic respiratory diseases, such as
asthma and emphysema
23. Social Worker - investigates, treats, and gives aid to
people with social problems and helps people with mental
illness, serious health conditions, financial difficulties,
substance abuse problems, domestic or child abuse,
unwanted pregnancy and other social problems
There are also allied medical professions whose specialized
training is available in
other countries.
1. Cardiovascular technologist - uses imaging technology
to help physicians diagnose patients with cardiac (heart) and
peripheral vascular (blood vessel) ailments
2. Clinical officer - performs general medical duties such as
the diagnosis and treatment of disease and injury,
recommendation and interpretation of medical tests,
performance of routine medical and surgical procedures,
and referral of patients to other practitioners
3. Dental hygienist - specializes in the removal of
calcaneous deposits and stains from patients’ and provides
additional services and information on prevention of oral
diseases

4. Diagnostic medical sonographist - uses ultrasonic

imaging devices to produce diagnostic images, scans,
videos, or 3D volumes of patients’ anatomy
5. Kinesiotherapist - develops and monitors exercise
programs to help people regain muscle strength and
function lost due to injury or disease
6. Neurophysiologist - specializes in the diagnosis of
conditions affecting the nervous system such as
neuromuscular diseases, epilepsy, and nerve entrapments
7. Medical dosimetrist - designs treatment plans for patients
by means of computer and/or manual computation to
determine a treatment field technique that will deliver the
prescribed radiation dose while taking into consideration the
dose-limiting structures
8. Medical radiation scientist - performs complex
diagnostic imaging studies on patients and plans and
administers radiation treatments
9. Music therapist - uses music within a therapeutic
relationship to address a client’s needs, such as facilitating
movement and physical rehabilitation, motivating the client
to cope with treatment, providing emotional support,
such as an outlet for expressing their feelings through music
10. Nuclear medicine technologist - performs imaging
procedures using radioactive drugs and materials to make
diagnostic evaluations of the anatomic or physiologic
conditions of the patient’s body, and facilitates therapy with
the use of unsealed radioactive sources
11. Orthoptist - investigates, diagnoses and treats defects of
binocular vision and abnormalities related to eye
movement; involves seeing patients of all ages from infants
to the elderly
12. Pedorthist - are foot orthotic and orthopedic footwear
experts trained in the assessment of lower limb anatomy and
muscle and joint function
13. Perfusionist - assists in performing procedures that
involve extracorporeal circulation, such as during open-
heart surgery or hypothermia
14. Surgical technologist - a member of the surgical team
who serves as a scrub technician or as a circulator