Medical professions - what are these professions?

The efficient functioning of the health care system requires the involvement of thousands of people working in various professions.

Medical professions - what are these professions?

The efficient functioning of the health care system requires the involvement of thousands of people working in various professions. Although we usually associate the professions of a doctor, nurse and midwife with medicine, the list of medical professions is much longer. Just as for the proper functioning of the human body, the synchronized work of many organ systems is needed, in order to provide proper care to patients, it is necessary to cooperate with people specializing in various areas of health sciences, e.g. dietetics, physiotherapy, clinical psychology or laboratory diagnostics. The pace of development of medicine and related disciplines is dizzying, therefore specialization of medical services is indispensable. In the article we have prepared, you will learn, among other things, which professions are related to medicine.

  • Definition of the medical profession
  • Medical professionals and medical personnel
  • What qualities are important in the medical profession?

Definition of the medical profession

No act in the Polish legal system has finally regulated what should be understood as a medical profession. There are several laws and regulations that sometimes differ quite significantly. However, there are no doubts as to some professions, which have been described in separate regulations. We include the following professions:

  • Doctor,
  • Nurse,
  • Midwife,
  • Paramedic,
  • Pharmacist,
  • Laboratory diagnostician,
  • Surgeon,

The professions listed above belong to the group of regulated professions, which means that in order to practice them, certain conditions must be met and appropriate authorization obtained. Usually, it is the right to practice a profession, granted on the basis of required documents by professional self-governments (e.g. district medical or pharmacy councils). At first glance, however, you can see that the list is not exhaustive - anyone who has been to the hospital at least once realizes that many more people are involved in patient care. For over a dozen years, medical personnel has been openly talking about the need to create an act regulating the work of people performing other medical professions. So far, however, only a draft of such a legal act has been prepared. It lists the following professions:

  • Dental assistant,
  • Dietician,
  • Ecectrocardiologist,
  • Dental hygienist,
  • School hygienist,
  • Speech therapist,
  • Masseur,
  • Medical guardian,
  • Optometrist,
  • Eyeglass optician,
  • Orthoptist,
  • Hearing care professional,
  • Psychotherapist,
  • Paramedic,
  • Medical analyst technician,
  • Dental technician,
  • Pharmaceutical technician,
  • Orthopedic technician,
  • Occupational therapist.

As can be seen, since the draft act was developed, separate legal regulations have been established only with regard to the professions of physiotherapist and paramedic. The wide list of medical professions seemed to be included in the Ordinance of the Minister of Health on obtaining the title of specialist in fields applicable to health care, which also included following:

  • Epidemiology specialist,
  • Specialist in medical physics,
  • Medical engineering specialist,
  • Specialist in health promotion and health education,
  • Clinical psychologist,
  • Neurologist,
  • Environmental health specialist.,

Medical professionals and medical personnel

In common understanding, these two terms are assumed to be equivalent. However, this is not entirely true as the concept of medical personnel is broader. It includes healthcare professionals and additional staff who are employed in medical facilities, but do not provide medical services, such as in attendance. On the other hand, medical professionals are entitled to provide health services.

 

What qualities are important in the medical profession?

Regardless of whether you become doctors, physiotherapists, nutritionists or electro radiology specialists in the future, you should follow a few important principles as representatives of the medical community. Features that are important in the medical profession are:

  • Discretion - information about the patient's health status is sensitive. Disclosing them is not only punishable by law, but also undermines the patient's trust in healthcare professionals.
  • Empathy - patients usually seek help when they are struggling with serious health problems. It must be associated with a large dose of stress for themselves and their loved ones. For this reason, proper communication and a sensitive approach seem to be a very important matter.
  • Meticulousness - it is not difficult to imagine the consequences of confusing the name or dose of a drug or performing an imaging examination in a patient in whom it is contraindicated. Medical professions are associated with enormous responsibility for human life and health.
  • Tolerant - Patients, like all people, are different. They have different political and religious views and different approaches to life. The philosophical differences between the charges and the medical staff cannot affect the quality of care, as well as the nature of the relationship with the patient.
  • Willingness to improve one's qualifications - medicine, as a very dynamically developing discipline, imposes on professionals who practice it the necessity of continuous development, learning and acquiring new skills.