[Nursing in the profession of the "sub-surgeons" between 1750 and 1850]

Between 1750 and 1850 surgical training was professionalized as a consequence of newly established technical colleges for surgeons in Germany and Austria led by doctors rather than craftsmen. At first, anatomy, debridement and obstetrics was taught, then a technical knowledge of medical treatment in general was instructed at specific medical/surgical schools. Depending on their years of training, graduates then worked as country doctors or as surgical assistants ("Subchirurgen", second class wound doctors). Nursing care was also on the curriculum; therefore some students worked temporarily as nurses. After graduating, many supervised nursing care in hospitals. This profession died out due to developments in the medical profession of the mid-19th century. However, they never belonged to the proletarian class of orderlies.