Noun

Singular clinic

Plural clinics

clinic (plural clinics)

1. A medical facility, such as a hospital, especially one for the treatment and diagnosis of outpatients.
2. A group practice of several physicians.
3. A meeting for the diagnosis of problems, or training, on a particular subject.
4. A temporary office arranged on a regular basis to allow politicians to meet their constituents.

Derived terms

• clinical
• clinically
• clinician

Related terms

• clinal
• cline

A clinic (or an outpatient clinic) is a small private or public health facility that is devoted to the care of outpatients, often in a community, in contrast to larger hospitals, which also treat inpatients. Some grow to be institutions as large as major hospitals, whilst retaining the name clinic. These are often associated with a hospital or medical school.

General practice clinics are run by one or several general practitioners or practice managers. Physiotherapy clinics are usually operated by physiotherapists and psychology clinics by clinical psychologists, and so on for each health profession. Some clinics are operated in-house by employers, government organizations or hospitals and some clinical services are outsourced to private corporations, specialising in provision of health services. In China, for example, owners of those clinics do not have formal medical education. Health care in India, China, Russia and Africa is provided to vast rural areas by mobile health clinics or roadside dispensaries, some of which integrate traditional health practices. In India these traditional clinics provide ayurvedic medicine and unani herbal medical practice. In each of these countries traditional medicine tends to be a hereditary practice.