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Clinical associates are a category of health professional found in South Africa. They assess patients, make diagnoses, prescribe treatment and perform minor surgery under the supervision of a physician.
Registration with the Medical and Dentists Board requires a Bachelor of Clinical Medical Practice degree – a three-year program offered at the Walter Sisulu University since January 2008 and now also offered at the University of Witwatersrand and University of Pretoria.
Similar health workers are called clinical officers in other parts of Africa, physician assistants in the US and feldshers in parts of the former Soviet Union – all grouped under "paramedical practitioners" in the International Standard Classification of Occupations, 2008 revision.
See also
- Allied health professions
- Bachelor of Clinical Medicine and Community Health
- Clinical officers
- Health care providers
- Health extension officers
References
- Health Professions Council of South Africa: Professional boards - Medical & Dental (and Medical Science) - http://www.hpcsa.co.za/board_meddent.php Archived 2011-03-24 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 15 March 2011.
- Speech by Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang at the official launch of the Clinical Associate Programme in South Africa, Umthata, 18 August 2008 - http://www.info.gov.za/speeches/2008/08082012451006.htm Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
- SouthAfrica.info: Mid-level health professionals for South Africa - http://www.southafrica.info/about/health/clinical-associates.htm, accessed 15 March 2011.
- University of the Witwatersrand: Clinical Associates - Bachelor of Clinical Medical Practice - http://web.wits.ac.za/Academic/Health/Entities/RuralHealth/Clinical+Associates.htm Archived 2011-03-10 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 15 March 2011.
- World Health Organization: Classifying health workers. Geneva, WHO, 2010.