Clinical associates

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^[1] – a three-year program offered at the Walter Sisulu University since January 2008^[2] and now also offered at the University of Witwatersrand and University of Pretoria.^[3][4]

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.^[5]

See also

• Allied health professions
• Bachelor of Clinical Medicine and Community Health
• Clinical officers
• Health care providers
• Health extension officers