Each November provides us with the perfect opportunity to express our appreciation and gratitude for a certain sector in healthcare – allied health professionals. Allied Health Professionals Week is celebrated annually during the first full week in November, recognizing a group of individuals who work tirelessly to improve the health and well-being of patients nationwide. In 2023, the dates of Allied Health Professionals Week are November 5 – 11.
What is Allied Health?
You might be wondering, “What is allied health?” Allied health is a broad term to describe a range of non-clinical healthcare professions. This part of the healthcare team works alongside physicians and nurses to provide comprehensive services to patients.
What is an Allied Health Professional?
Allied health professionals might focus on disease and disorder identification, evaluation, and prevention, dietary and nutrition services, rehabilitation, and much more, but each allied health profession comes with its own unique expertise and contributions to the overall healthcare team. And if you put all the allied health professions together, estimates suggest that approximately 60% of healthcare workers within the U.S. can be classified as allied health.
To give more insight into who qualifies as an allied health professional, this sector includes but is not limited to:
- Physical therapists
- Occupational therapists
- Audiologists
- Respiratory therapists
- Cardiovascular technologists
- Radiographers
- Sonographers
- Speech-language pathologists
- Radiation therapists
- Medical lab techs
- And much more
Allied health can even go outside of the hospital to include dental personnel as well as pharmacy techs and assistants.
Recognizing Allied Health Professionals
In addition to the overarching celebration of Allied Health Professionals Week, various events throughout the year are dedicated to recognizing specific allied health professions. This is important as you’ll likely find most individuals who fall under the allied health category identifying themselves first by their specific occupation – like calling themselves a physical therapist, respiratory therapist, or dental hygienist as opposed to an allied health professional. So, these specialized celebrations throughout the year provide a platform to highlight the unique skills and contributions of each group. These celebrations include but are not limited to:
Medical Laboratory Professionals Week
Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month
National Dialysis Technician Recognition Week
National Physical Therapy Month
National Radiologic Technology Week®
Thank You to Our Allied Health Professionals
Allied health professionals lead meaningful careers as they make a profound impact on patients’ lives every day. Thank you to all our allied health professionals for dedicating their lives to their patients’ well-being!
Are you interested to see what allied health jobs Nucleus offers? View our job openings and discover the potential next step in your allied health career.
