Was Cupcake a cadet or he was just taking some extra courses?

[Drago-Kazov]

Why was he at the academy in your opinion? It would make sense if let's say Hendorff got a field promotion he would have to spend some time in the academy studying let's say logistics and martial arts. I imagine he was just a "security grunt" before that. Or would you prefer a guy who looks 40 to be just a cadet who just signed up to Starfleet?

[SalvorHardin]

Drago-Kazov wrote:

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Or would you prefer a guy who looks 40 to be just a cadet who just signed up to Starfleet?

Bones did it. I see no problem with it.
Besides, Cupcake doesn't look 40. He looks more or less the same age as Kirk.

[RoJoHen]

Well, for what it's worth, the actor who played Cupcake was born in '72...so he is in fact 40.

[SalvorHardin]

RoJoHen wrote:

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Well, for what it's worth, the actor who played Cupcake was born in '72...so he is in fact 40.

He wasn't 40 when the first movie was filmed though.
And people often look older or younger than their real age.

[Drago-Kazov]

SalvorHardin wrote:

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Bones did it. I see no problem with it.
Besides, Cupcake doesn't look 40. He looks more or less the same age as Kirk.

So IRL if a medic wants to join the army he has to do medical school all over again?

[SalvorHardin]

Drago-Kazov wrote:

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So IRL if a medic wants to join the army he has to do medical school all over again?

I have no idea how it works in real life to be honest.

Maybe Bones was a doctor of humans only before joining and had to spend a few years learning how to diagnose and treat the various alien races that are part of Federation starships.
Along with other knowledge necessary for service. After all, we see him do non-doctor stuff in the Kobayashi Maru simulation.

[Cyke101]

Drago-Kazov wrote:

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So IRL if a medic wants to join the army he has to do medical school all over again?

I don't believe that's the case, assuming Cupcake didn't have some sort of terminal-degree specialty.

McCoy (at least Abrams-McCoy) is a good example -- Already an MD and an older recruit, he completed his time at the Academy in 3 years as well, just like Kirk. I imagine that if he wasn't already an MD, he'd have to spend more time under Starfleet medical training (though perhaps not as a cadet or at the Academy).

But there's still a difference between on-field medical work and working in a hospital, e.g. being able to prioritize differently, working under fire, ability to command, working with alien physiology, etc. Thus, I imagine that if you're already an MD but you want to enter the Academy, you don't go through full-fledged medical school, but you still undergo some specific-training to adapt your skillset to a Starfleet setting.

I wonder if Chapel Prime (woot, love that name) underwent such a program: entering the Academy without a medical degree, but undergoing additional training while in the field and eventually becoming MD.

[teacake]

He was in summer school.

[Drago-Kazov]

Looking for frat parties and underage girls?

[Minuet]

Cyke101 wrote:

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McCoy (at least Abrams-McCoy) is a good example -- Already an MD and an older recruit, he completed his time at the Academy in 3 years as well, just like Kirk.

Kirk also inexplicably made captain in three years too, because fuck logic.

[CorporalClegg]

Drago-Kazov wrote:

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Looking for frat parties and underage girls?

Then he got is just deserts.

[Minuet]

CorporalClegg wrote:

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Then he got is just deserts.

So that explains his weight problem in Star Trek VI.

Oh, wait, deserts? Not desserts? Now this all makes less sense.

[Nerys Myk]

Drago-Kazov wrote:

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So IRL if a medic wants to join the army he has to do medical school all over again?

IRL a doctor who joins the army has to go through military training. Same for lawyers and other professionals.

McCoy was getting Starfleet training, not medical training.

[Drago-Kazov]

How long does the training last if we are talking about somebody who is an already practicing surgeon for example?
Hardin

He wasn't 40 when the first movie was filmed though.
And people often look older or younger than their real age.

The point is he was around 40.

[King Daniel Into Darkness]

If people in the Trekverse can live to be 150, a 40-year-old cadet should be no biggie.