Healthcare support worker assistantships should form a mandatory part of medical school curricula: A perspective from UK medical students

Abstract

This personal view, regarding the value of healthcare support worker (HCSW) assistantships, is based on our experiences as medical students entering our final year, having both worked as HCSW’s during the COVID-19 pandemic, and from SC’s experience as a HCSW before and throughout medical school. HCSW’s provide a large proportion of the basic care patients receive on the wards, in clinics and primary care. The proximity to patients attracts individuals with excellent communication skills and bedside manner, and means they are well-positioned to assist in the management of both the general wellbeing of patients and equally, to recognise the signs of a deteriorating patient making them a versatile and invaluable member of the multidisciplinary team (MDT). This piece aims to highlight the value of our time spent working as a HCSWs, thus promoting the formation of a mandatory assistantship for medical students, like that seen in Germany. Through this, essential communication skills, empathy, ‘ward smarts’ and an appreciation for the wider MDT can be gained in a way that typical clinical attachments and classroom teaching do not replicate.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Samuel Cowley

Samuel Cowley is a fifth-year medical student studying at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry with a iBSc in Neuroscience from Kings College London.

Gemma White

Gemma White is a fifth-year medical student studying at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry with a iBSc in Endocrinology from Kings College London.