The term "allied health" describes a large cluster of health care professionals who fulfill important roles in the health care system. Allied health providers, the largest and most diverse constituency within the health care workforce, have tremendous potential for addressing questions of cost, quality, and access in our health care system. Allied health professionals work in a variety of disciplines to make up the majority of the health care workforce and, thus, form a vital part of the primary, secondary, and large medical center infrastructure. Allied health professionals provide disease detection and prevention (including imaging and laboratory services), dietary services, health promotion, rehabilitation services, and health systems management. Working in all health care settings, allied health providers are diverse in terms of the work they perform, their educational backgrounds, and the regulatory control over their activities.

   Growing evidence suggests that the number and mix of allied health professionals may be insufficient to meet the current and future demands of the nation's health care system. Allied health provider shortages have been reported and attributed to the aging population's increased need for rehabilitation services, an increase in the degree of patient illness found in hospital and larger medical care settings, expanded delivery settings, and an inadequate "educational pipeline" for preparation of these providers. The health sciences provide an excellent variety of career choices.