Allied Health Science | Courses, Eligibility, Careers & more

Allied health science courses | An overview

A different category of healthcare professionals is known as allied health science practitioners, and they use their training to prevent, identify, treat, and rehabilitate individuals of all ages and specializations from spreading infections.

Along with a variety of technical and support specialists, they will offer direct medical treatment, recuperation, medicine, diagnostics, and health development measures in order to restore and preserve optimal physical, sensory, psychological, cognitive, and social functions.

All different types of medical diagnostic procedures (such as blood analysis, histopathology, pathological analysis, and radiography) that are employed in the medical industry and are crucial to patient care are covered under allied health sciences. With diagnosis based on technology, the role of allied health professionals in providing appropriate treatment has become crucial.

Read on to know more about courses, eligibility criteria, universities providing these courses, career opportunities, and more.

Allied health science courses

Here is a list of popular Allied Health Science courses: 

• B.Sc Microbiology
• Bachelor of Optometry
• B.Sc Nutrition & Dietetics
• B.Sc Radio-Imaging Technology
• B.Sc Neuro-physiology Technology
• B.Sc Operation Theater Technology
• B.Sc Medical Laboratory Technology
• B.Sc Cardiac Care Technology
• B.Sc Renal Dialysis
• Master of Optometry
• M.Sc Nutrition & Dietetics
• M.Sc Radio-Imaging Technology
• M.Sc Operation Theater Technology
• M.Sc Medical Laboratory Technology
• M.Sc Microbiology
• Ph.D. Nutrition & Dietetics
• Ph.D. Microbiology
• Ph.D. Radio Imaging & Technology

Eligibility criteria for allied health science courses

1. Students must be in the science stream if they intend to enroll in allied health science courses.
2. Biology is a required subject in certain programs.
3. Based on their 10+2 percentage, applicants are shortlisted for admission to reputable universities. A high overall percentage is therefore important. As a result, the student should work to achieve good grades in all disciplines. Given that some courses individually call for a strong biology grade, biology may be given more weight.
4. Students studying allied medical sciences should have excellent critical thinking and research abilities in order to analyze, understand, and make judgments about facts. Strong physical endurance and the capacity to endure under trying circumstances, are both prerequisites for entering this field of work.
5. For admission to undergraduate programs, the majority of universities keep an aggregate minimum requirement of 50% or above. Some biology courses could also have a distinct minimum passing score of 50%.
6. As part of the admissions process, entrance exams are also administered by Indian institutions.
7. Depending on the subject you are applying for, universities overseas could need proficiency exams like the IELTS, GRE, TOEFL, SAT, ACT, etc.

Top colleges in India

Here is the list of popular Indian universities or colleges offering allied health science courses: 

Name of Exam	Universities/Colleges	Application period	Exam Dates
AIIMS Entrance Exams	AIIMS (New Delhi and others)	2nd to last week of March	In the month of May and June
LBS Kerala Post Basic BSc Nursing Admission Test	Govt. College of Nursing, Thiruvananthapuram Govt. College of Nursing, Ernakulam Nursing Self Financing Colleges under SMIET (Kochi, Kannur & Palghat) Nursing Private Self-Financing Colleges	1st week of June to 1st week of July	August
Kerala BPharm lateral entry Admission test (For DPharm holders)	College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medical college Self-financing Pharmacy institutions	2nd week to last week of August	2nd week of September
KEAM (Engineering/Pharmacy entrance exam)	College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medical college Self-financing Pharmacy institutions	2nd week to 3rd week of April	3rd week of May
BITSAT (BPharm entrance)	Birla Institute of Technology	May to 3rd week of June	4th week of June
Common University entrance test CUET	Banaras Hindu University, Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millia Islamia University, and many more.	4th week of March to the 3rd week of April	1st and 3rd week of June

Top universities abroad

1. University of Hawaii – Manoa
2. University of Mississippi – Shorelight
3. Cambrian College
4. Georgian College
5. Humber Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning

Areas of work for allied health science professionals

These people have a keen interest in making an accurate examination and illness diagnosis in order to link the symptoms to the diagnosis and treat the patient appropriately. They comprise supervisors and technicians. Some of the fields they work in include

1. Nursing
2. Optometry
3. Physiotherapy
4. Audiology
5. Perfusion Technology
6. Pharmacy
7. Cardiovascular Technology

Career in allied health science courses 

Healthcare-related vocations are predicted to increase more quickly than most other professions, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS). The overall perception of the healthcare business has seen a significant shift over the past ten years as a result of technological improvements.

Paramedical practitioners and technicians are no longer seen as having less authority than doctors and nurses in their respective fields. Additionally, a wider range of options is now accessible in study fields related to allied health services at the graduate level.

As doctors increasingly rely on diagnostic laboratory testing, job prospects for clinical laboratory technicians are projected to outpace those of other qualified professions.

The usage of surgical operations for the treatment of ailments in an aging population is increasing the need for OT technologists and surgical assistants.

Some career options that students can pursue after a bachelors degree in allied health science are-

• Clinical laboratory technician
• Dietitians or nutritionists
• Exercise Physiologists
• Recreational Therapist
• Registered Nurses

After Master’s students can pursue careers in-

• Athletic Trainers
• Genetic counselors
• Nurse practitioners, Aestheticians, and Midwives
• Occupational Therapists
• Orthodontists and Prosthetists
• Physician Assistants
• Speech-language Pathologists

Key takeaways

• Allied medical sciences refer to a wide variety of academic fields that produce healthcare workers other than physicians.
• To deliver the greatest patient results, allied health specialists collaborate with other members of a multidisciplinary health team.
• As doctors increasingly rely on laboratory testing to determine diagnosis, there will likely be more job possibilities for clinical laboratory technicians than competent specialists.
• The need for surgical assistants and OT technologists is rising as surgical procedures are used more often to manage ailments in an aging population.

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FAQs

Q1. Which allied medical course is the best?

Answer – Few of the most lucrative allied medical science courses are 

• Bachelor of optometry
• B.sc nutrition and dietetics
• B.sc radio imaging technology
• B.sc neurophysiology technology
• B.sc operation theatre technology
• B.sc medical laboratory technology
• B.sc cardiac care technology
• B.sc renal dialysis

Q2. What is the scope of allied health science after a doctoral degree? 

Answer – There are a variety of jobs students can do after a Ph.D. in Allied Health Science. Students can work as a Audiologist, Chiropractor, Optometrists, Pharmacists and many more.

Q3. Does MBBS fall under Allied Health Sciences?

Answer – One of the greatest alternatives to an MBBS degree is a degree in allied health sciences. The need for skilled allied health science degree students is going to rise as more and more courses are introduced in the allied health sciences category.