Clinical officer
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A clinical officer (CO) is a licensed practitioner of medicine who is trained and authorized to perform general or specialized medical duties such as diagnosis and treatment of disease and injury, ordering and interpreting medical tests, performing routine medical and surgical procedures and referring patients to other practitioners.
In Kenya, the traditional six-year training program for medical officers is modified and compressed by up to one-third, mainly by reducing breaks, holidays and other redundancies and by more general training in the minor sub-specialties, so that a clinical officer is able to graduate and join the workforce in a minimum of four calendar years. A clinical officer's training and practice is therefore focused on the major specialties of medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology and community health (including health service management) at the basic level with less emphasis on the sub-specialties such as neuro-surgery. The first three years after joining the workforce are spent working under the guidance and supervision of experienced clinical officers and physicians before one takes on a more independent role. After this period of supervision a clinical officer may choose to undergo further training in any approved sub-specialty.
Unlike nurses and physician assistants, a clinical officer is a fully qualified medical practitioner who is legally authorized to prepare and sign medico-legal documents such as sick notes, death certificates and other medical reports, and to produce the same as an expert witness in a court of law. For this reason, a clinical officer usually oversees a health center or a district hospital and is part of the medical team in bigger hospitals where one may head a department or work with a senior clinical officer or a physician.
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