The Department of Health Sciences recognizes Allied Health Professionals Week each November as an opportunity to celebrate its students, faculty, staff and alumni and their impact on advancing the allied health professions and improving access to health care for all.
Allied health practitioners make up approximately 60 percent of the health care workforce and include professions distinct from nursing and medicine. In UNC’s Department of Health Sciences, these professions include Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS), Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Occupational Therapy, Neurodiagnostic Sleep Science (NDSS), Physician Assistant Studies (PA), Physical Therapy (PT), Radiologic Science, Speech-Language Pathology (SLP), and Audiology.
These professions serve unique roles in health care as they support diagnosis, evaluation and treatment of disease, emphasize wellness as a means for overall health and prevention, and offer rehabilitation options to give patients higher quality of life. Not only do allied health professionals serve individuals, but also families, communities and broader health systems through their work.
What do Allied Health Professionals do?
Each allied health discipline plays a unique role in patient care and wellness:
- Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS): Laboratory professionals perform diagnostic testing on blood, tissue, and other specimens to help detect disease and guide treatment.
- Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling and Clinical Rehabilitation & Mental Health Counseling (CRMH): Counselors support individuals with disabilities or mental health challenges to achieve personal and social goals.
- Occupational Therapy (OTOS): Professionals help patients regain independence in daily activities following illness, injury, or disability, while also conducting research and advancing evidence-based practice in occupational therapy.
- Neurodiagnostic Sleep Science (NDSS): Specialists monitor and analyze brain and sleep activity to diagnose and manage neurological and sleep disorders.
- Physician Assistant Studies (PA): PAs work alongside physicians to diagnose, treat, and manage patient care across medical and surgical specialties.
- Physical Therapy (PT): Physical therapists improve mobility, reduce pain, and prevent injury through movement-based rehabilitation.
- Radiologic Science: Radiologic technologists perform medical imaging to assist in diagnosing and monitoring diseases or injuries.
- Speech-Language Pathology (SLP): Speech-language pathologists evaluate and treat communication, speech, language, and swallowing disorders.
- Audiology: Audiologists assess and manage hearing and balance disorders, improving communication and quality of life.
Together, these professions form a collaborative team that supports patients, families, and communities, ensuring comprehensive care across the health system.
The History of Allied Health Professions
Though many of its included professions, including some UNC-CH programs like physical therapy and clinical laboratory science, existed well before, the term “allied health” was popularized by the passage of the Allied Health Professions Personnel Training Act in 1967. The legislation brought a new and radical concept of unifying the various disciplines that comprised allied health into academic units with a single administration. Programs included the term “allied” in their names to align with the 1967 training act and associated funding.
Allied health professionals initially served primarily in hospital settings, working alongside physicians and nurses to support patient care. In the decades since their formal grouping as allied health professions, many of these fields have moved beyond hospital patient care into outpatient clinical practice, work in schools and other care centers. Additionally, these professions developed their own academic standards, established their own accreditation bodies, have certification and licensure oversight by state boards and have evolved their own professional organizations.
Over time, many allied health schools, colleges, departments and organizations began to remove the term “allied” in their names, as these professions grew to become large, active, and independent disciplines, advancing beyond their initial definition and “allied” label. Our UNC-CH Department of Health Sciences, formerly the Department of Allied Health Sciences, followed suit and introduced a name change in 2022.
However, the term “allied” holds firm in its meaning – connected.
Connection is Key to Advancing Health Care
Physicians, nurses and allied health professionals are connected by their commitment to patient care. Here at UNC-CH, these connections are forged across schools and departments in the forms of collective research, interprofessional education, and collaborative clinical care.
The Department of Health Sciences is proud to operate within each of the segments of the School of Medicine’s tripartite mission and seeks to continue fostering connection with health care workers, researchers and educators campus-wide, all for the betterment of the health of North Carolinians and beyond.
Schedule of Events
To celebrate Allied Health Professionals Week 2025, the Department of Health Sciences invites students, faculty, staff and colleagues to participate in the following events:
- What does Allied Health Professionals week means to me?
Throughout the week there will be a poster up in the lobby of Bondurant Hall where you can add a note to share what Allied Health Professionals Week means to you. As you enter the building please add your own notes – add as many as you like. We look forward to sharing these messages at the end of the week. - Monday, Nov. 3 | 12-2:00pm | Student Appreciation | The Chair’s Suite (Bondurant 1020)
The Chair’s Suite (Bondurant 1020), will have a drop in event where students can come by to enjoy candy and coloring pages. - Monday – Tuesday, Nov. 3 – 4 | Gratitude Card Pop Up for Faculty & Staff
Want to share your gratitude? Stop by any division suite/clinic to write a note of gratitude to your colleagues. Write a note to one colleague, or to the team! - Wednesday, Nov. 5 | 12:00 – 1:30pm | Health Sciences Committee Recruitment
Representative from all Committees will be set up in the Bondurant Hall Lobby to share information about each committee and recruit new members.
Stop by the tables to learn more about each committee and complete some fun activities! - Wednesday, Nov. 5 | 2 – 4 pm | The Pitt | Health Sciences Information Table
Faculty, students and Student Services staff will be out at the Pitt from 2-4pm sharing information about our programs.
We encourage students, faculty and staff across all programs to stop by the tables to have some fun, learn more about our programs, and share personal experiences.