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]