The Medical Assistant is a Royal Navy medical rating in the United Kingdom. Medical Assistants serve on all types of ships in the surface fleet, submarine fleet, Royal Marines, Fleet Air Arm or ashore in a sick bay, hospitals, or other establishment. The equivalent rate in the United States Navy (USN) is hospital corpsman. Overview The Medical Assistant provides a broad spectrum of skills in primary care, occupational health, secondary care, pre-hospital trauma life support, medical administration, teaching first aid and disease prevention, providing health briefs, and basic environmental health. These are performed in a variety of roles at sea in a ship or submarine, with Royal Marines Commandos, Fleet Air Arm, shore establishments, Ministry of Defence Hospital Units, UKSF, and other Tri-Service departments. Predominantly they provide day-to-day healthcare for their crewmates as a vital part of the ship's company. On larger ships, they are part of a medical team, while on smaller ships they may be the only medic on board. History The Medical Assistant was previously known as Sick Berth Attendant and Sick Berth Steward (19th–20th century) and earlier as loblolly boy (16th–19th century). Medical Assistants are colloquially known as "scablifters" or "doc" in Royal Naval Jackspeak. The Sick Berth Branch of the Royal Navy originated on 4 May 1833 when an Admiralty order was issued to Commanding Officers to organise a "Sick Berth Attendant" in ships of the 5th rate and upwards a man of good character is to be selected from the complement and rated as Sick Berth attendant, whose duty it will be to attend exclusively on the sick, without being called away by the ordinary duties of the ship, and who is to be paid as an able seaman. They received no formal medical training and it was not until June 1883 that a Committee, known as the Hoskins Committee, after its Chairman, Rear Admiral A. H. Hoskins was formed to enquire into the organization and training of the Sick Berth and Nursing Staff of the Royal Navy Hospitals. The committee, after visiting Naval and Military Hospitals as well as the larger London Hospitals reported their findings to the Admiralty in the autumn of 1884. The Admiralty gave their verdict in an Order in Council dated 17 October 1884. This Order authorised the establishment of a trained Sick Berth Rating Staff with the following Rates: 1st and 2nd Class Boys Sick Berth Attendant Sick