Assignment 1

1. The Medical Industry
Student Number: u3143583
Unit: Foundations of Professional Planning
Word count: 1006 (approx)
The Industry
The medical industry provide a collection of services by trained professionals in the treatment of patients
with various health problems. Services are provided in the home, community, workplace or health
facilities. It is the only place where there are a numerous amount of people with different disciplines
working towards one goal, which is the prevention, treatment and cure of the sick and disabled1. The
medical industry has changed throughout the years but certain factors such as facilities differ within
countries. The similarities would be how the medical industry is represented by associations and the
assistance of indigenous people.
Treatment of indigenous people is an ongoing issue in the medical industry because of reasons such as:
remoteness, availability of doctors and healthcare professionals and a mistrust in the medical system 2.
The medical industry has identified these issues and taken action to assist with the inclusion of
indigenous people. For instance 1% of the general practitioners in Australia areindigenous doctors and
staff2. Similarly the medical system createdan indigenous friendly environment by displaying indigenous
art work, helped indigenous people understand what sort of disease they have by using clearand simple
language, offer low prices for treatment and address remote locations2. These changes increased the
number of indigenous people visiting a hospital and helped them feel more secure and understand the
situation clearly2.
Differences in the medical system are evident between developed and developing countries. It is a
challenging problem due to social, cultural, political and economic conditions in countries3. A good
example would be the number of measles related deaths that occur in developing countries, despite the
presence of a safe and cost-effective vaccine4. In industrialised countries medical care is funded by taxes
and private insurance companies however in developing countries this is a struggle because a majority of
the population is poor and lack the sufficient facilities3. Therefore, the treatment received in developed
countries is more advanced and of a higher standard, when compared to developing countries.
The medical field is an industry with a variety of sectors and four of the main sectors are physicians,
nursing, allied services and medical administration services5. However there are numerous professions
underneath each sector like cardiologist, therapist, receptionist and the role played by each individual
differs accordingly. For example in 2011, 11.6% of all workers in Australia were employed in the medical
industry6, which depicts the amount of professions involved in the medical industry is great in number.
The medical industryiscontinuouslyevolvingandthere hasbeenseveralmedical developmentsand
techniquesoverthe pastcenturies7
.Forinstance,the availabilityof facilitiestotreat cancer was
limitedmanyyearsago,howevernowthe technologyhasimprovedandhealthcare treatmentfor
patientsare more advanced7
.The three mainchangesthatare transformingthe medical fieldare
electronicmedical records,populationscience andclinical practice guidelines7
.Inthe pastdoctors
triedto finda cure duringthe outbreakof a disease,now new technologyallow doctorstostudy,
learnand predicta symptomandlikelywaystotreatitbefore anoutbreak.Forexample the flu
vaccinationsare givenbefore the fluoutbreakandmanyorganizationscontinuouslymonitorthe
circulationof influenzastrains8
.

2. There are countless associations representing the healthcare system and all of them areequally
important and allied to the medical industry. Australian Medical Association (AMA), Association of
Regulatory and Clinical Scientist (ARCS) and Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) arejust a few of
the many peak bodies9.
Professional Skills
The area I aspire to work in the medical industry is being a clinical dietitian. ‘A dietitian translates the
science of nutrition into every day information about food to prevent nutrient deficiencies’10 and make
appropriate dietary choices to maintain health. The skills and qualities needed to become a dietitian is
awareness of food and how diet affects health, a caring and positive attitudeto people, good
communication skills, being able to work on your own and as a teamand having a responsible and
professional insight10. One main qualification needed is undertaking research and developing programs
and policies. Furthermore having the ability to think outside the box and always being up to date with
recent research in the field which was also backed up in an interview with Lynette Brown11 who is a
qualified clinical dietitian. For instance, research led by Dr David Servan-Schreiber on the importance of
good nutrition alongside treatment in many cancers shows that research on better nutrition and lifestyle
habits plays a very important role in managing many diseases12.
In addition to be an eligible dietitian a bachelor’s degree in dietetics or any science field, a master’s
degree in dietetics or nutrition is necessary and the National Entry Level Competency Standards for
Dietitians13 must be met. The 3 main standards being assessed are foundation competencies, core
competencies and critical practice and below these standards there are9 units being acknowledged13.
When becoming a dietitian or any profession a code of conduct must be followed, for a dietitian the
codes are act within the law and accept standards of Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA), be
responsible to deliver a safe and competent service, report unsafe and unethical practiceand respect
others14.
Personal Skills
As said above there are a range of skills and qualities required to become a clinical dietitian. Some of the
skills that I acquire is leadership skills which I gained by being a school prefect and the captain of the
school basketball team for two consecutive years. Alongside leadership skills, these positions also taught
me the importance of teamwork and maintaining good communication within the team in order to
succeed. Additionally I work part time as a waitress which has improved my social skills allowing me to
interact with others effectively. Whilst having good communication, social and leadership skills, research
and critical thinking are my weaknesses. Since I am a visual learner these areas can be developed through
reading more sources such as books, internet and magazines and by using varied sources I will be refining
my critical thinking.

3. References
1. BusinessDictionary, Healthcareindustry [internet]. Available from:
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definiton/health-care-industry.html
2. Hospitals, doctors, health and aboriginal people [internet]. Creative spirits;[updated 2015
February 5;citied 2015 June 16]. Available from http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginal-
people
3. Anup shah. Health carearound the world [internet]: Global issues [updated 2011 September 22].
Available from http://www.globalissues.org/issue/587/health-issues
4. World Health Organization. Measles [internet]. Available from
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs286/en/
5. Kelly Puerto Rico. Healthcare disciplines [internet]. Available from
http://www.kellyservices.com.pr/PR/About-Us/Kelly-Healthcare-Resources/Healthcare-
Disciplines/
6. Glenn Capuano. Health careis now Australia’s largest industry [internet]. Available from
http://blog.id.com.au/2013/population/australian-demographic-trends/health-care-is-now-
australias-largest-industry/
7. Drew Hendricks. How technology is changing the medical and healthcare field [internet]:
Huffpost; 2013 May 15 [updated 2013 July 14]. Available from:
m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3273542
8. World Health Organization. Influenza surveillance and monitoring [internet]. WHO; 2014 January.
Available from http://www.who.int/influenza/surveillance_monitoring/en/
9. Health, medical and natural therapies industry associations [internet]. Available from
https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industry/service-industries/personal-services/health-medical-
natural-therapies-industry-associations
10. Dietitians [internet]. Available from http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore-by-career/allied-
health-professions/careers-in-the-allied-health-professions/dietitian/
11. Lynette Brown. Becoming a professional [internet]. Canberra: Diane Phillips; 2014 August 7
[citied 2015 June 16]. Video: 18 min. Available from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIzhXcrIMn8&feature=youtu.be
12. Dr David S.S. Anticancer a new way of life [internet]. Penguin Books; 2011
13. Becoming a dietitian [internet]. Available from http://daa.asn.au/universities-
recognition/national-competency-standards/
14. Dietitians association of Australia. Statement of Ethical Practice[internet]. Available from
daa.asn.au/.../2013-Statement-of-Ethical-Practice-Member-and-APD.pdf ·