Medical Officer

The primary duty of any Medical Officer is to provide for the health and well being of his or her Ship, Crew, and Captain. As a Doctor, you are also required to render aid to anyone in any situation. You have jurisdiction over any medically hazardous or medically necessary situation, making sure that it can not endanger your ship. Because of this directive, it may be necessary for you to leave the ship in order to provide care. It becomes your responsibility to enter any situation that may endanger the lives of other crew members, be it disease, bio-contamination, or plague.

You are responsible for the bio-hazard protocols on your ship, and for the monitoring of the transport biofilters. Any medical care that is needed, be it a small bruise or abrasion, or full scale cardiac surgery becomes your responsibility. Your duty to the Commanding Officer is as follows: Ensure that the Commanding Officer is at all times medically capable of performing his or her duties. The Chief medical Officer may relieve the Commanding Officer of duty. It is recommended that the CMO consult the Ship's Counselor and perhaps other senior officers before doing so.

A log or record of your crew's medical history can be helpful in determining future treatment. These logs may include Out of Sim treatments and experiments, as well as supporting information of In Sim occurrences.

MEDICAL DEPARTMENT ORGANIZATION

The medical Department is centralized in Sick Bay. The Sick Bay is made up of a central care facility, surgery suites, a Physical therapy facility, a null grav therapy ward, a dental facility, and a bio-hazard containment unit. Nearby can also be found the medical Staff's offices, a laboratory, and a nursery.

In emergency situations, shuttle bays can be converted via emergency medical modules to working triage/trauma centers. Guest quarters on the upper decks can easily be adapted to serve as patient overflow areas.

The Chief medical Officer manages the medical Department. He or she is primarily responsible for overseeing all care and procedures, and will accompany Away Teams to ensure their safety and to provide immediate emergency medical care. The Assistant medical Officer (s) provide additional care, as well as filling in for the Chief medical Officer when he or she is unavailable.

Staff Nurses and medical Technicians lend support as needed. (Nurses and medical Techs are generally Non-Player characters (NPC's), utilized by YOU during a sim.)

Additional medical support is available via the Emergency medical Hologram (EMH) Program. The EMH is a fully functional holographic physician that utilizes current Star Fleet medical databases to render treatment.

The chief medical officer is a senior staff-level position, typically held by a lieutenant commander or commander who is a Doctor of Medicine with surgical skills. A medical officer is usually assigned to work under the supervision of the CMO and customarily holds the lank of lieutenant or lieutenant junior grade.

Chief medical officers were also referred to as the "ship's surgeon" in the 23rd century. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)

Typical ranks

Chief medical officers have been seen with a variety of ranks. They can hold any rank in the lieutenant grades, but are quite often seen as lieutenant commanders. Chief medical officers are eligible to take the Bridge Officer's Test for promotion to full commander. At this point, they are considered capable of assuming command of a starship. (TNG: "Thine Own Self")

Specific duties

CMOs aboard a starship or starbase are directly in charge of the sickbay or infirmary, commanding medical department personnel and activities. The CMOs' primary duties are the oversight and maintenance of the overall health and physical fitness of crew and passengers.

Officers likely to be assigned as the CMO over long-duration missions of exploration, have scientific training in disciplines outside of medicine, allowing them to take on major, extended research projects; or to better participate in a wider variety of encounters. (TOS: "The Immunity Syndrome"; TNG: "Clues", "Suspicions")

Medical authority

In addition to the normal duties of an officer, the CMO also has the power to relieve an officer or crewman, including a superior one, of their duties if in the officer's professional judgment, he or she is medically unfit. Typically, the CMO is expected to have the support of a senior command officer or detailed medical documentation to justify this course of action. (TOS: "The Doomsday Machine"; TNG: "Lonely Among Us"; VOY: "Year of Hell, Part II")

On stardate 51425 – in an alternate timeline – The Doctor cited Starfleet Medical Regulation 121, Section A in an attempt to relieve Captain Kathryn Janeway of her command. She refused his order, stating that he had no way to actually "implement this protocol". He countered, by saying that he would note the incident in his official log, and that it could lead to her general court martial. (VOY: "Year of Hell, Part II")