Today we celebrate Allied Health and Scientific Professions Day: an opportunity to acknowledge and thank the more than 2800 Allied Health and Scientific professionals working across the Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN). Representing over 24 disciplines, these professionals play a vital role in working to improve the lives of South Australians.
Left to Right: Simon Mills, Emily Cattuzzon, Aaron Cook, Ms Coler, Firas El Achbar
Allied Health and Scientific services have a long and proud history in South Australian healthcare. Early social workers, then called Almoners, were vital as the link between the hospital and the poor in the community. By the 1930s, dietitians were advising on hospital nutrition, while radiographers and pathologists were using new technologies to diagnose disease and monitor treatment.
Plant pot: patient gift to RAH Almoner, Bet Hicks, 1951;
By the 1950s, the Royal Adelaide Hospital site housed one of the Australia’s most advanced pathology laboratories: Institute of Medial and Veterinary Science (IMVS), now known as SA Pathology. While Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre became a leader in multidisciplinary therapy, helping patients recover from spinal injuries, strokes and other complex conditions.
Centrifuge (RAH site), Ca 1970
SA Pathology Microbiology & Histopathology (TQEH), 2022
The CALHN Health Museum holds many examples of the evolution of these professions. Among the collection are early dietetic scales, physiotherapy equipment and portable x-ray units. The collection also looks after microscopes, centrifuges, and pathology slides that trace the development of medical science at the IMVS.
Photographs from the collection show the human side of these roles: physiotherapists helping polio patients to walk again, pharmacists compounding medicines by hand and radiographers working closely with the patient to take clear and acuate images. Behind the science, medical scientists at the IMVS analysed blood, tissue and fluid samples, developing new methods for diagnosis and treatment.
Chiropody Clippers, Ca 1950
Leitz Microscope, 1931
That same dedication continues today. Keep an eye on CALHN’s social media channels this week as some of our Allied Health and Scientific professional share what they enjoy most about their work.
To every Allied Health and Scientific professional: thankyou for the invaluable work you do!
Written by Margot Way, CALHN Health Museum
