Is it worth it? A comparison study of medical students’ aspirations for gaining the Health Care Certificate following employment as Healthcare Assistants.

AbstractBackgroundMethodsResultsConclusionsMedical 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.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.The learning was highly valued with early perceptions challenged. The learning both accelerated and advanced their medical skills. Their <italic>naivety</italic> of nurses’ work within team-based practice quickly eroded; they <italic>symbiotically linked their clinical and non-clinical learning</italic>; they <italic>acclimatised to the hospital environment</italic> while <italic>future gazing</italic> in preparation for clinical learning. Early <italic>anxieties</italic> for starting employment were overcome, building resilience.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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]