Allied health sciences refer to professionals who work in areas such as illness and disorder diagnosis, assessment, and prevention, nutritional and nutrition services, rehabilitation, and health system administration, to name a few. Dentists, diagnostic medical sonographers, nutritionists, medical technologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, radiographers, respiratory therapists, and speech-language pathologists are just a few examples of allied health professions.
Allied health science courses typically range from 3 years to 4 years during which students gain knowledge over a broad spectrum of healthcare-related subjects and can either opt for a specific allied health subject or choose to study broadly and further specialize during the course. Students can choose a wide variety of subjects such as medical laboratory assistant, health care assistant, medical sonography, health care official, medical transcriptionist, occupational therapist, physiotherapy, advanced care paramedic, cardiovascular therapy, respiratory therapy, and much more.
Canada offers many allied health sciences courses for students all over the world. These courses can be accessed as degree courses like Bachelors in Allied Health Sciences and graduate courses as well as non-degree courses like Diplomas and professional certifications. The University of Ottawa (world ranked college) offers a Bachelor’s in Commerce (honors) in Healthcare Analytics which is a 4-year course. Similarly, many colleges such as Red Deer College, St. Lawrence college, Algonquin College, and Northern College are a few of the many reputed institutes offering a plethora of courses in allied health sciences. Canada also offers diploma courses in allied health science subjects of one’s choice. These courses are typically 2 years long.
Admission to all allied health science courses in Canada requires taking the IELTS exam with a score of 6.5 and above. There are usually 4 uptakes per year- summer, spring, fall, and winter uptakes for which students can apply. Some colleges might have their specific additional requirements which would be mentioned in their course’s eligibility details on the college website.
Allied health science is a crucial backbone to any health care sector ensures plenty of job opportunities for such candidates. Allied health science students can land themselves a role in hospitals, research institutes, or even in teaching. Candidates can take up roles in hospitals such as pharmacy technicians, medical assistants, surgical assistance, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, laboratory assistants, technicians, and analytics. Candidates can further take up teaching in the subject they expertise in, at major universities and colleges and even assist in laboratories at the institute. There are many major research institutes such as the National Research Council of Canada being few of the many where candidates can show off their skills and knowledge.