HANDBOOK

The job of Medical is to provide for the physical and mental well- being of the crew: a short description, but a tall order. Medical must have specialists in different species and in different organ systems (including a silicon plasterer for broken Hortas). Medical can expect to treat everything from sprained ankles to the most exotic diseases in the galaxy. Some of the positions in Medical are:

CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: the head doctor, the only other officer who can legally tell the Captain where to go. The CMO is responsible for the entire Medical Department and all its staff and the health of the Captain.

NURSING SPECIALISTS: tend the patients on a day-to-day basis. They assist the Doctors with surgery and examinations and may produce a preliminary diagnosis.

MEDICS: (paramedics) administer First Aid often under hazardous and primitive conditions. Being the first at the scene of a crisis, they must quickly diagnose and stabilize a patient until a medical facility can be reached.

LAB TECHNICIANS: prepare specimens, maintain regeneration cultures, synthesize medications, and conduct medical tests.

PSYCHOLOGISTS and PSYCHIATRISTS, also known as SHIP’S COUNSELORS, help maintain the mental health of all sentient life forms aboard the ship. Recreational officers report to Medical for ideas on helping crew members relieve stress. While injuries to the body may heal quickly, these officers must aid in the much longer process of mental healing.

THERAPISTS: On a starship with alien families, it is necessary to diagnose and treat physical and speech disorders among family members of the crew. Therapists must be well-schooled in physiology and speech patterns of the many species who work aboard the ship.

Medical needs recruits who are genuinely sympathetic to the sentient mind and body and are trained in healing differing life forms.