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 – a three-year program offered at the Walter Sisulu University since January 2008 and now also offered at the University of Witwatersrand and University of Pretoria.

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.