clinician

American  

[kli-nish-uhn] / klɪˈnɪʃ ən /

noun

clinicians plural

1. a physician or other qualified person who is involved in the treatment and observation of living patients, as distinguished from one engaged in research.

2. a person who teaches or conducts sessions at a clinic.

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clinician British  

/ klɪˈnɪʃən /

noun

1. a physician, psychiatrist, etc, who specializes in clinical work as opposed to one engaged in laboratory or experimental studies

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• clinicians
  plural

Etymology

Origin of clinician

First recorded in 1870–75; clinic + -ian

Explanation

A clinician is a doctor, nurse practitioner, or other health care worker who treats patients directly. When you go to the doctor with a sore throat, a clinician will ask you to stick out your tongue and say "Ahh." The word clinician is often used simply to mean "doctor," but it applies to any health professional who works one-on-one with patients, diagnosing or treating illness. A clinician might be a physician or nurse, a psychologist, or a speech-language pathologist. Doctors whose work keeps them in laboratories or research facilities, rather than working with patients, are not considered clinicians. The Greek root is klinike techne, "practice at the sickbed."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

clinician clinicians

Prosecutors in Contra Costa County have charged the former behavioral health clinician with multiple felony counts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

Elif Oral, M.D., a clinician and Professor in the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Diabetes, has spent much of her career trying to understand this apparent contradiction.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026

He was told that a clinician would call him back, and that if he got worse in the meantime he should call the emergency services again.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

To get a full picture of Aidan’s health history, a clinician had to pore through paper records, relying on memory to weave disparate facts together.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 27, 2026

The central plateau was his roots as an epidemiologist and a clinician, and a model of how a committed staff on a limited budget could raise the standard of health in the third world.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

One of the largest cyclosporiasis outbreaks in North America was linked, through data collection from clinicians and laboratories, to imported raspberries from an estimated five Guatemalan farms in 1996.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

Some individual clinicians also prescribe the drug remotely.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

The goal is to help clinicians monitor biological aging more precisely and design individualized treatments that target the underlying causes of age-related disease.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026

Equipped with beds, mannequins, a mock laboratory, and protective gear, the simulation centre prepares doctors, nurses, and clinicians for deployments in DRC, or from regional countries at risk from the spreading disease.

From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026

Of the two talks Farmer was scheduled to deliver, one was for clinicians about the specifics of treating AIDS, and the other was more general, about poverty and inequality, especially in Haiti.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Related Words

• adviser
• analyst
• doctor
• physician
• psychiatrist
• psychoanalyst
• psychologist
• psychotherapist