Work experiance as a healthcare assistant is invaluable

Editor - I am writing in response to a piece in the May edition of the studentBMJ on "Making patients feel at ease: the healthcare assistant," by Barnes. I was pleased to read a firsthand account of a medical student who works as a healthcare assistant (HCA), as this important role in hospitals is often misunderstood. Most medical students are not even familiar with the term "healthcare assistant" let alone their responsibilities on the wards. I was equally ignorant until I started working as an HCA last year.

The confusion is not only among medical students. Doctors on the wards, too, often seem bemused by our role, and peer at us suspiciously as we scurry from under their feet. An important part in medical education is learning about all the members of multidisciplinary team within which we will work. I have since gained a very clear idea of the hierarchy and work distribution within the NHS, knowledge that will no doubt ease my transition to fledgling doctor.

I have found the benefits of working as an HCA to be vast. Not only have I gained useful clinical experience (and some extra money!), but I am now comfortable dealing with patients in many different situations, and know how to communicate with them effectively. As pointed out in the article by Barnes, the largest part of an HCA's job is comforting patients.

I believe that such a useful clinical experience should be encouraged among medical students looking for a holiday job and some extra money. Not only does it pay more than working in a pub, but it will provide invaluable experience of working as a "carer" of patients, rather than the "treaters" we will be as doctors.

Lorna Burn, second year medical student, St Bartholomews and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London
Email: berry_80@hotmail.com


studentBMJ 2000;08:217-258 July ISSN 0966-6494