The difference between clinical and non-clinical jobs is fairly simple. People in clinical roles treat patients or provide direct patient care, whereas those in non-clinical roles do not provide direct diagnosis, testing, treatment, or care.
Examples of clinical jobs include doctors, physician assistants, and nurses, while non-clinical jobs include medical billers, transcriptionists, and receptionists, to name a few.
This article discusses the differences between clinical and non-clinical jobs, as well as examples of professionals who fill these roles.
Blend Images / ERproductions Ltd / Brand X Pictures / Getty Images
Examples of Clinical Roles
Clinical roles often have face-to-face contact with patients for the purpose of diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care. Some clinical professions are behind the scenes, such as laboratory professionals whose work supports diagnosis and treatment.
Clinical roles often require certification or licensing.
These are roles where the professional provides direct patient care:
The Best Traveling Nurse Services to Work for
Examples of Non-Clinical Roles
Non-clinical roles are those which do not provide any type of medical treatment or testing. Some non-clinical workers do interact with patients but do not actually provide medical care.
Non-clinical roles include:
There are also many other non-clinical roles in the medical industry such as pharmaceutical representative, biomedical engineer, medical recruiter, and medical device salesperson.
Summary
Clinical jobs provide direct patient care, whereas non-clinical jobs do not provide direct diagnosis, testing, treatment, or care. Clinical roles range from physicians and nurses to surgical assistants and allied health professionals. Non-clinical roles include medical billers, transcriptionists, employees in IT, human resources, and more.
2 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.Family medicine physicians.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.Physician assistants.
2 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.Family medicine physicians.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.Physician assistants.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.Family medicine physicians.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.Physician assistants.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.Family medicine physicians.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.Physician assistants.
Meet Our Medical Expert Board
Share Feedback
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
What is your feedback?
