Arkham has a grudge against healing. I'm of the opinion that the usual theorycrafting arguments against slotting healing are overly simplistic; they ignore the fact that while healing does not directly help you win, there are times when the game simply becomes an endurance test and soak alone can't save you. There are also investigators who can put it to much better use than others, and interactions with other cards that can elevate it even further. Nevertheless, healing has historically been very weak and/or inefficient, and at the end of the day if you're going to slot it, it better be really good.

And this one is good! For 2 resources and an action, you heal 1/1 AND get a 1/1 soak. That's hard to compete with at level 0.

"But how can an ally be better than a slotless asset, like First Aid, or an event?". Because that problem is an opportunity in disguise!

Just a few examples:

• Along with all the other allies with instantaneous effects, Calling in Favors is going to be very powerful and versatile.
• William Yorick can recur this actionlessly after a fight, when he or his friends may need it (traditionally he may prefer more soak, but consider this in multiplayer).
• When Tommy Muldoon plays this he can sacrifice it, get his money back (in resources or bullets), and draw it from his deck again, ad nauseam, turning him into a mean team healing machine.
• Leo Anderson makes this an actionless 1-cost card, and it's non-unique, so he can put it under Mitch Brown, and since it can heal his other allies he can tank like nobody's business.

You may have noticed I've only mentioned investigators. I might be missing something but apart from working with Miskatonic Archaeology Funding I don't really see this contending in decks. That may change but for the time being I think the only seeker interested would be Joe Diamond, and he's half guardian anyway, and has other ways of staying alive.

Meanwhile, the combos are simply off the wall. In addition to working great with investigator abilities in this faction which I mentioned above, let's not forget the growing pool of allies who turn pain into gain. Beat Cop, Guard Dog, Grete Wagner, and the ultimate Agency Backup would all appreciate a medic. This is a lot like First Aid of course, which can be used multiple times instead of just having an instantaneous effect, but requires XP and another action to play and doesn't combo in the ways previously mentioned.

There is of course a cost not printed here, but one that looms over us all when we consider slotting allies, and that's the human cost. Is it high time Arkham's best and brightest stepped up and started helping with this eldritch horror problem? Should we perhaps consider not placing Massachusetts' next generation of medical professionals in harm's way? Do they get course credit? You decide!

TLDR: This card in a Leo Anderson deck is an absolute tank. Include it if you want to have an easy time on hard/expert mode.

I should mention this isn't much different than the review done by MiskatonicFrosh but I just felt the need to include my review of this specifically with Leo Anderson.

First off, this card on its own provides you with a heal for damage and horror and then soaks one damage and horror for 1 action and 2 resources. Compare this to First Aid, liquid courage, etc. All that can be for action costly healing assets. The big benefit of those compared to this card is they dont take up a valuable ally slot.

In walks Leo Anderson and his armada of ally's. I should say even with Mitch Brown, I upgraded to Charisma to have an extra slot and I'm only half way through my campaign, but Medical Student is just a must add for Leo's deck. I have had this situation occur in two straight situations:

Have already taken some damage/horror from encounter deck/enemies. Play the Medical Student and heal myself 1/1 as an actionless cost. Play calling in favors to pick up another ally (guard dog or even one time I picked up ANOTHER medical student) and then play that card at reduced cost. Then with Survival Knife armed and ready, I felt comfortable going into fighting a big boss. I used my Cyclopean Hammer for one swing. Then on the enemy phase, I absorb the hit with guard dog/medical student and fight back with my knife. Next turn begins and I still have the Medical Student I picked up from the previous round and play it again as an actionless cost to heal myself. I should note that in order to play calling in favors, i didn't let the medical student absorb any hits, I only sacrificed them the second time around when I played them, but got the bonus healing of 1/1.

What did this all cost? 1 action and 4 resources (to play calling in favors is the action and one extra resource to pay for guard dog) to heal/soak up a total of 6 damage and 4 horror. Not to mention with survival knife and guard dog, you have a solid tempo of attacking/doing damage during your phase and enemy phase. In terms of cost benefit this card is just broken for Leo.

This is the most effective and fun way to heal. I didn't really need Mitch Brown, but Leos special effect is what makes this work so well. I can't imagine a deck of his without this card. I should also mention I try to avoid running the same ally's. So for example I wont run Leo De Luca with Leo even though they are perfect for each other because I just like the variety.

The last thing we need to consider though is a moral or philosophical one that the game developers might not have considered. Should the investigators of Arkham be using Medical Students of Miskatonic University as cannon fodder for the monsters of the world? I'll let the comments decide.