title: Upstairs, downstairs: medical students in their first clinical year and their previous experience of work in hospitals.
abstract: In a study of Edinburgh students in their first clinical year it was found that a sizeable proportion had had some prior experience of hospital life and work from vacation jobs--such as being porters, auxiliary nurses and so on. Students' retrospective accounts of such experience are reported. The most salient aspect of hospitals seen from this vantage point concerned the division of labour between grades of staff, and the hierarchical organization of hospital personnel. Students saw the experience primarily as a chance to see medicine 'from the other side'. It is suggested that such experiences can be drawn on in the teaching of sociology to undergraduate students.
mesh_terms: D000488:Allied Health Personnel; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D009728:Nursing Assistants; D010564:Personnel, Hospital; D012606:Scotland