College of Healing
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- Located in the Amphorae barony on the isle of Draught, the Healer's College focuses on training the best doctors and healers in all the Keeper's Isles. While every farmhouse and village of the isles has at least someone capable of patching up basic injuries, the Healers of Amphorae study in advanced techniques and skills that prepare them for dealing with the most serious and severe of injuries.
- Founded in 418 A.G., Healer's College was the brainchild of a congress of like-minded healers who wished for a more centralized and official place of learning for their craft. Together, they founded a school that would support research and learning, and which would serve as a repository to accumulate the knowledge of all aspects of healing in a single location.
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Admission and Curriculum
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- Students seeking admission to the Healer's College must pass a simple test on herbs and the treatment of minor injuries. This never involves actually wounded patients, but it may involve drawings or diagrams of such things. The admission process is not stringent, but it does weed out those with no talent for healing whatsoever. The tuition--not terribly pricey, all things considered--is expected to be paid by the applicant's family, or by a noble patronage. Occasionally, the College may offer scholarship in conjunction with the student serving duties within Healer's Hall to help offset the costs.
- Typically, students begin their training in Healer's College between the ages of twelve and fourteen, and spend at least two (and more often as many as four) years in theoretical training before they are promoted to an apprenticeship. Graduating to Apprentice requires that the would-be healer complete their oral examinations with 95% or better marks, and they must swear allegiance to the Duke or Duchess of Draught (severing ties to their previous Duchy). Apprentices spend anywhere from three to seven years working with a master healer in practical training assignments located on any of the five islands, assisting them as nurse and dealing with patients who have lesser illnesses.
- Once each year, an apprentice is brought before a panel of judges at the Healer's College, where they are expected to present what they have learned. Their Master is expected to act as accuser in these hearings, and declare why the apprentice is not ready to be graduated. Typically, a student's apprenticeship will last anywhere from five to seven years, but it is not entirely unheard of for an apprenticeship to last as many as ten years. It is, however, unlikely that a would-be healer will be detained much longer than their tenth year. When the panel believes that the apprentice has proven they are ready, the apprentice is graduated to the rank of Journeyman Healer, and is allowed to begin practicing the trade without the oversight of a master.
- Some healers never advance beyond the rank of Journeyman Healer; however, there are many who wish to advance--in time--to the rank of Master. It is rare for a Journeyman to be elevated to master before their tenth year after graduation from the Healer's College. Those who wish to attain the rank of Master Healer must return to the College and present a Thesis on the healing arts. This Thesis must demonstrate an advanced knowledge of the healing arts, and traditionally involves a new and potentially radical theory on the treatment of diseases, allergies, injuries, or similar. Those whose works are found to be well composed and reasonably factual (after testing) are granted the title of Master, and will be allowed to select apprentices from the upcoming students out of the Healer's College.
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The Hall
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- The College is a residential school, with dorms for students and apartment style housing for the professors and their families. Surrounding the dorms are the medicinal gardens, tended to by students and pharmaceutical specialists both. The healing centre sits in the midst of it all, with people coming and going at all hours of day and night with medical emergencies. To be sent off to Healer College is generally the most serious and unusual of illnesses and injuries.
- The College also runs a smaller clinic in each of the Isles for families that cannot afford to find medical care elsewhere. The clinic is run by journeymen as part of their practicum, quite a plum and coveted assignment for the most promising of students. A master healer oversees the operation of the clinic, making sure that it runs without incident and ready to pass off more difficult cases to the main college campus itself.
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