Practitioner needing to perform with a clear head (3)
I believe the answer is:
doc
'practitioner' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'to perform with a clear head' is the wordplay.
'to perform' becomes 'do' (both can mean complete an action).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'head' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'clear' is 'c'.
'do'+'c'='DOC'
'needing' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for doc that I've seen before include "Medic, in short" , "Physician (colloq.)" , "Fox perhaps" , "bones" , "Medic (familiar)" .)