Is it worth it? A comparison study of medical students’ aspirations for gaining the Health Care Certificate following employment as Healthcare Assistants
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21447652 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kishan Patel (0000-0002-5693-6831, Foundation Doctor, Barts Health, corresponding author), Anna Kendrick (Senior Sister, University Hospital NHS Trust), Simon Gay (0000-0002-1743-9824, Medical School, University of Leicester), Richard Holland (0000-0002-4663-6923, Dean, University of Exeter), Liz Anderson (0000-0002-2828-5680, Medical School, Leicester Medical Education, Leicester Medical School) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1004-1014 |
| Publication date | 2025-06-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Medical Teacher (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0142-159X • E-ISSN: 1466-187X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0142159x.2024.2407128 |
| PMID | 39412748 |
| OpenAlex | W4403451721 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 41 |
Background Medical students seek early patient contact but their curriculum starts with scientific knowledge. We integrated the Healthcare Assistant (HCA) course into semester one for early patient-facing clinical contact. This study compares students’ aspirations for this learning with the realities of employed work as HCAs.Methods This sequential mixed-methods study used pre-post-scored questionnaire data, followed by post-course focus groups, and interviews a year later. The quantitative data were analysed using SPSS and the qualitative data using thematic analysis.Results The learning was highly valued with early perceptions challenged. The learning both accelerated and advanced their medical skills. Their naivety of nurses’ work within team-based practice quickly eroded; they symbiotically linked their clinical and non-clinical learning; they acclimatised to the hospital environment while future gazing in preparation for clinical learning. Early anxieties for starting employment were overcome, building resilience.Conclusions HCA training offers a practical patient-facing set of competencies on which to build medical capability. Student text-book scientific knowledge was validated through their experiences with recognition of the importance of empathetic patient-centred care. They quickly learnt and absorbed ward function; experienced good and poor teamworking; highly valued the nursing role; and experienced the every-day stresses of being a front-line practitioner
Certificate · Health care · Medical education · Political science · Computer Science · Innovations in Medical Education · Medicine · Nursing · Nursing education and management · Nursing Roles and Practices · Psychology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |