The Medical Assistant is a Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 medical rating in the United Kingdom. Medical Assistants serve on all types of ships in the surface and submarine fleet, or ashore in a sick bay, hospital, or other establishment. The equivalent rate in the United States Navy is Hospital Corpsman.

The Medical Assistant was previously known as Sick Berth Attendant (19th-20th century) and earlier as Loblolly boy

Loblolly boy

A loblolly boy on a warship was a non-professional assistant to the ship's surgeon. In Tobias Smollett's 1748 novel The Adventures of Roderick Random, the first to describe Royal Navy life in detail, the protagonist Random was made a loblolly boy upon entering the Royal Navy, and ultimately...

 (18th–19th century).

Basic training (9 weeks) is conducted at HMS Raleigh

HMS Raleigh (shore establishment)

HMS Raleigh is the modern-day basic training facility of the Royal Navy at Torpoint, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is spread over several square miles, and has damage control simulators and fire-fighting training facilities...

 shore establishment in Torpoint, Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

.