The difference between medical and paramedical: For many of us, the difference between the medical and paramedical sectors remains unclear, especially as they both belong to the broad health sector. However, there are significant differences beyond their similar primary function of providing patient care. So what are these differences? Why is renting a paramedical practice favourable for professionals in this sector?

Training: important differences from the start.
These two very similar professions require very different training. While becoming a professional in the paramedical sector will require 3 to 5 years of study, medical studies will require about 9 years. Although both are demanding courses, the medical course has a few more subtleties. Future medical professionals must comply with two mandatory rules:
- Be registered with the defined Order (doctors/dentists/midwives).
- Taking the Hippocratic oath, a condition that obliges one not to discriminate against patients.

Their functions: both complementary and distinct.
Indeed, medical professionals must follow these two rules during their training, as they alone have the authority to dispense prescriptions. They operate directly with the medicinal products that are used to prevent and treat disease. Paramedical professionals, on the other hand, support medical professionals with their specialisations. They usually work from a rented paramedical practice. This division of labour is due to the different specialities of each one, which allow them to be more efficient in the treatment of different health concerns, whether physical or mental.

Different fields and therefore different professional spaces:
These distinctions, whether in training or in their functions, make the paramedical and medical sectors two sectors each with their own areas. In the medical sector we find the fields of: medicine, maieutics and odontology. These fields are mainly present in public structures (hospitals) but also in private structures (clinics, centres). As for the paramedical sector, we find the fields of: health care, rehabilitation, medical and technical assistance, and medical equipment. These fields are mainly present in centres or rented paramedical practices. Indeed, most professionals in the paramedical sector require a private or shared professional space in which to work, so they rent paramedical offices. These offices can be rented on a monthly basis, but now also on an hourly basis, a formula that is becoming more and more attractive thanks to its flexibility and low cost. Paramedical practices are increasingly rented on an hourly basis, as this does not involve any significant costs or long-term commitment. They can leave the practice whenever they wish and only pay when they occupy the practice. There is no rent or purchase to make, the practice is fully equipped and ready to use. This is why paramedical professionals nowadays favour renting out paramedical surgeries, whereas medical professionals mostly have their own space directly.