Health profession

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Health care occupation and health specialist occupation are terms used in Germany for non- medical , non- psychotherapeutic occupations in the health care system , which include activities in health promotion , medical therapy and diagnostics, and rehabilitation . Other names today are medical professional and medical assistant professions ; the term medical profession also applies to some ; The health care profession, on the other hand, is an outdated term .
Occupations in the pharmaceutical sector (→  pharmaceutical personnel ) are also partly counted as health professions.

Differentiation from the medical professions

Health professions and specialist health professions are non-academic training professions. An exception is the alternative practitioner , who does not require any mandatory training, but only an official medical examination.

Health profession

Some health professions are learned as part of dual training , which in turn is partly organized by the respective professional chambers. For example, the Chamber of Physicians is responsible for training medical assistants , the Chamber of Pharmacists for pharmaceutical and commercial employees. The school education is usually free of charge. In addition, various providers offer training and courses, some of which are subject to a fee.

Health profession

Training in a health profession takes place at vocational schools and is partly regulated by federal law or bound by the Federal Education Act (BBiG) or the craft regulations . The vocational schools include nursing schools or medical training centers and in North Rhine-Westphalia the vocational college .

In addition to medical and psychotherapeutic professions, specialist health professions are independent medical professions. The members of these professions carry out their work independently and on their own responsibility, according to the scientific knowledge on which their respective profession is based.

However, insofar as members of a health care profession carry out activities of a medicinal nature as part of their professional practice, in particular measures of medical diagnostics, therapy or rehabilitation, a doctor's order is required, since the practice of medicinal activities is generally carried out by a doctor , alternative practitioner or a (licensed ) Is reserved for child and adolescent psychotherapists or psychological psychotherapists . The fields of activity are delimited according to whether a license to practice medicine , dentist , child and adolescent psychotherapist, psychological psychotherapist or a permit according to the Heilpraktikergesetz is required to carry out the respective activity . This is the case when medical, psychotherapeutic or medical expertise is required. However, doctors or dentists can, under certain conditions, delegate certain original medical activities to members of health professions or health professions.

Assumption of delegable activities

The German Medical Association (BÄK) and the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians ( KBV) have issued a joint announcement for doctors on the subject of “delegation of medical services to non-medical health professions”. The German Dental Association has also described a delegation framework for dental assistants.

In cases of ordering or delegation, the ordering or delegating doctor bears the responsibility for the ordering, possibly also for the selection and control of the person carrying out the order. The executor is responsible for the professional implementation. For example, the doctor is responsible for which medication should be prescribed and what effects, risks and side effects the prescribed medication has on the respective patient . The nurse is responsible for ensuring that the medication is dispensed in a timely and correct manner and for assistance with taking the medication.

Even in the case of an ordered medical activity, an area often remains that is not covered by the medical order, for example in the selection of methods. The procedure of "ordering medical activities" is judged controversially in some departments.

Pharmaceutical-technical assistants can provide the licensed pharmacist with information and advice on pharmaceuticals if the pharmacy manager has previously stipulated this in writing in accordance with Section 20, Paragraph 1 of the Pharmacy Ordinance (ApBetrO).

Academization

For a number of years there have been efforts to become academics in various health professions in the form of higher education courses such as nursing courses or training to become an orthoptist . There are also efforts to have the completion of a health profession recognized as a prerequisite for university studies . However, these courses suffer from the low number of career advancement positions for nursing staff in hospitals. a. with the loss of many positions of nursing directors , so that it is feared that the academization could even encourage professional disappointments and the migration of qualified nursing staff. Anyone who starts studying nursing without any practical experience collects this quite late in the course and will then often find that the practical work is not for him / her after all. On the other hand, the so-called “escape academization” or over -academization of the profession is often a result of previous professional disappointments.

Job profiles

Healthcare professions regulated by federal law

The health professions regulated by federal law and outside of the Federal Education Act or Crafts Code include:

Geriatric nurse

Further training courses at vocational schools

Training courses regulated by state law are carried out at vocational schools (in North Rhine-Westphalia: vocational college) and end with a state final examination. In addition, there are training courses that are based on different regulations in some federal states, for example, the training for surgical technicians is regulated in some federal states by the recommendation of the German Hospital Association (DKG).

  • Medical device technology assistant
  • Breath, speech and voice teacher
  • Medical documentation assistant
  • Medical dissection and preparation assistant
  • Surgical Technician Assistant (OTA)

Inconsistently regulated health professions

Dental assistant

Admission requirements, duration of training and qualifications can vary depending on the course provider. Training and further education are carried out according to the internal regulations of the training provider and are partly chargeable, such as the training for alternative practitioners.

International situation

In many countries around the world there are also medical, non-medical professions, the training and exercise of which are regulated by the respective national laws and professional codes. A comparison with the situation in Germany is therefore only possible to a limited extent. In Switzerland and Austria, the activities are summarized under the term health professions .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Brief description of alternative practitioners on berufenet.arbeitsagentur.de
  2. ^ Federal Association of Independent Professions eV ; accessed on February 12, 2019.
  3. see e.g. B. § 1 Para. 5, 6 Dentistry Act .
  4. BÄK, KBV, guidelines on doctor's reservation and the delegation of medical services (PDF).
  5. BZÄK, delegation framework for dental assistants (PDF; 145 kB).
  6. Helmut Müller: Surgery Assistant: Counterproductive Development . In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt , 2013, 110 (20), pp. A-995 / B-867 / C-863.
  7. Peter Heilberger: Surgery assistant: A wrong path . In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt , 2013, 110 (20), pp. A-995 / B-867 / C-863.
  8. ^ Michael Billig: Health professions: urge to academic training. In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt , 2011; 108 (1-2), pp. A-30 / B-22 / C-22.
  9. Pflegestudium.de . August 8, 2018 ( pflegestudium.de [accessed August 15, 2018]).
  10. Studies for orthoptists. Professional Association Orthoptik Deutschland eV, accessed on February 13, 2019 . .
  11. Bachelor's degree in Management for Health Professions, B.Sc. of DIU Dresden International University GmbH ( Memento of the original dated July 3, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.di-uni.de
  12. Klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de .
  13. A word creation from the 2000s; see. pflegewiki.de .
  14. ^ Maria Zöller: Health professions at a glance. Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Bonn (2018), accessed on February 12, 2019 .
  15. Ordinance on the regulation of competencies according to legal provisions for health professions. Ministry of the Interior and Local Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, accessed on November 22, 2013 .
  16. Brief description of the technical assistant at berufenet.arbeitsagentur.de ; accessed on February 13, 2019.
  17. Brief description of alternative practitioners on berufenet.arbeitsagentur.de ; accessed on February 13, 2019.
  18. ^ Health professions in Switzerland. OdASanté, accessed February 13, 2019 . .
  19. ^ Health Professions in Austria 2017. Federal Ministry of Health in Austria, accessed on February 13, 2019 . .