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What training do doctors/Healers receive above their school education?

A fresh Hogwarts graduate does not seem to have all the skills required to be a Healer, so s/he would need to be learning those skills somehow/someplace. So how/where do they get those skills?

Also, there is one instance of a doctor being praised for inventing a healing spell. Is there any research system, like funding, trials etc or any other source of innovation?

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  • possible duplicate of Does higher education exist in Harry Potter?
    – phantom42
    Oct 28, 2014 at 13:12
  • @phantom42, I already looked that up and while it says that universities do not exist, nothing on hospitals becoming wizard counterparts to medical colleges.
    – Jesvin Jose
    Oct 28, 2014 at 13:22
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    From the accepted answer: There are no universities, but there is some evidence of "Trade Schools", to lack a better term. Beyond that, what is the difference between university or higher education (which you specifically asked about) and something like a medical college?
    – phantom42
    Oct 28, 2014 at 13:42
  • St. Mungo's is probably the equivalent of a Muggle teaching hospital. You get your qualifying base education (College/N.E.W.Ts), then you do your internship (Trainee Healer), then your residency (Healer).
    – Dave Johnson
    Oct 28, 2014 at 17:28
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    @phantom42 -- I'm wondering what the source is for there being "trade schools" in the wizarding world. If it's off the Wikia, I'd like to know where they got that info from, because I have never seen trade schools referenced in canon or by JKR. Maybe Pottermore? I'm behind on Pottermore, so it could be that. As far as I know, JKR has just said there is no post-Hogwarts schooling available. As always, correct me if I'm wrong. :)
    – Slytherincess
    Oct 28, 2014 at 22:41

3 Answers 3

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Healers receive training, possibly at St. Mungo's, but we don't know the specifics.

We know there aren't many (if any) institutions of higher magical education, so there doesn't seem to be a direct counterpart to Muggle universities. It seems that Healers do go through some form of training, as there are reasonably strict academic requirements (not unlike medicine courses):

“Well, I don't fancy Healing,” said Ron on the last evening of the holidays. He was immersed in a leaflet that carried the crossed bone-and-wand emblem of St. Mungo's on its front. “It says here you need at least an E at N.E.W.T. level in Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms, and Defence Against the Dark Arts. I mean… blimey… Don't want much, do they?”

— Order of the Phoenix, chapter 29 (Career Advice)

The fact that St. Mungo's are handing out leaflets for a career in Healing means that they probably play a central role in training new Healers. Possibly the entirety of your Healer education takes place there, but this isn't confirmed.

One aspect of Muggle education that's definitely mimiced in the magical world is shadowing: students following around a qualified professional while they do their rounds:

They climbed a flight of stairs and entered the “Creature Induced Injuries” corridor, where the second door on the right bore the words, “‘DANGEROUS’ DAI LLEWELLYN WARD: SERIOUS BITES.” Underneath this was a card in a brass holder on which had been handwritten Healer-in-Charge: Hippocrates Smethwych, Trainee Healer: Augustus Pye.

— Order of the Phoenix, chapter 22 (St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries)

The models of medical research and funding in the magical world are probably too narrow and specific to be discussed in canon. I can't recall any canon in which details are mentioned.

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Supplementing Alexwlchan's answer, according to Potterwords, a catalog of words and institutions in Harry Potter, there are four healing positions available at St. Mungo's:

  • Healer
  • Healer-in-Charge
  • mediwizard (NB 'mediwitch' does not occur in canon, although it seems a reasonable extrapolation)
  • Trainee Healer

There is also the welcomewitch (not a healing position, obviously, but a St. Mungo's employee nonetheless.)

Mods, if this is better served as a comment, please feel free to convert.

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    How canon is potterwords?
    – Valorum
    Oct 28, 2014 at 14:42
  • @Richard -- Read all seven books and then get back to me.
    – Slytherincess
    Oct 28, 2014 at 17:57
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    @Slytherincess I've read all seven books. How canon is Potterwords?
    – Nerrolken
    Oct 28, 2014 at 18:03
  • @Nerrolken - I was kidding with Richard, as we've joked about it in chat. Since you've already read all the books, you can peruse Potterwords and judge for yourself. It's a helpful resource, I've found. YMMV. I will say that I would like it better if each entry was cited or notated, like the Lexicon's entries. "How canon" a site is varies from person to person. Tons of answers here cite the HP Wikia as a reliable source. I think it's unreliable and very often wrong. So it's not very canon to me.
    – Slytherincess
    Oct 28, 2014 at 18:18
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I think it's pretty safe to say they receive additional training. From pieces I've gathered in the books, it would be a reasonable assumption that they went to St. Mungo's to work with more experienced healers. We have examples of this in the book, when I believe they have a trainee healer trying Muggle medicine on Arthur Weasley, which is typically what doctors do in the Muggle world: get a year or so of hands on experience with a full doctor. Whether they have to learn anatomy and take other classes first is in question, but again I believe it would most likely all happen at a place like St. Mungo's.

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