Wellness and the Allied Health Professions

Raul Caetano, M.D., Ph.D.

What is Allied Health?

Professionals involved with the delivery of health services pertaining to the identification, evaluation and prevention of diseases and disorders; dietary and nutrition services; rehabilitation and health systems management, among others.

Allied health professionals include

dental hygienists medical sonographers

dietitians medical technologists

occup. therapists physical therapists radiographers respiratory therapists

sp. lang. pathologists rehabilitation psychologists

physician assistantsprosthetics & orthotics

radiation therapists emergency medical tech.

audiology

Allied Health in the UT System*

University of Texas Medical Branch University of Texas Southwestern Medical

CenterMD AndersonU.T. Health Sciences Center, San AntonioUT BrownsvilleUT DallasUTEPUT Pan American

*Schools at Galveston, Southwestern, MD Anderson, San Antonio, UTEP, Brownsville, Pan American

Culture of Wellness: Opportunities in Education

Most faculty with some knowledge about wellness.

Wellness concepts already present to different degrees in educational curriculum.

Elements of the culture present in fragmented form.

Culture of Welness: Opportunities in Practice

Most professions provide direct or indirect care to patients, and patient contact longer than MD.

Practice settings are varied (hospital, outpatient, clinics in the community).

Wellness practice present in varying degrees.

Challenges

The field of Allied Health is diverse and fragmented.

Each profession has a specific accreditation process and curriculum requirements (no common curriculum).

Professional identities are linked to specific professions and not to the field as a whole.

Professional associations are also profession-specific.

Near- Term Suggestions

Centralized effort leading to wide dissemination of wellness concepts to UT System units, especially those with active programs in the health field.

System-sponsored faculty development.System-sponsored educational materials

(course structure, lectures, slide sets, background literature).

THE END