Why interchangeable? Why not have Medical be part of Life Sciences? It seems to me it would be the applied technologies division of Life Sciences. And it would explain why they wear the same uniform color.
My thought was that Life Sciences=Medical basically comes down to how many "scientists" your ship has, if you only warrant up to a dozen or so, then your LS officers are going to be doctors/nurses and the non-LS ones are your "Science Department". On the other hand, a ship like 1701-D that has dozens if not hundreds of LS officers and crew should probably have a proper "Life Sciences Department" with it's own Lt or better as DivO if only administratively (Crusher, Pulaski and McCoy might outrank the LS O-i-C but S1 Bashir as a LT-JG probably wouldn't have on a starship), though Medical might still still where the same colour to show they are "related".
Isn't Voyagers Doctor the answer for a too small ship? If necessary you get some extra holograms as doctors or nurses, but don't need to keep them around when you don't need them.
I think that was (in-universe) part of the reason for the EMH (and certainly LMH, which was either superseded by the later mk's of EMH, or we just haven't seen "Bashir's" replacement.
Unless they progress to the point he has, and want to be left on longer. It'd be like storing your ship's historian in a cryo freezer until you meet somebody from the past.
Well, the Sagittarius from Vanguard/Seekers has a single doctor and a medical technician (and another character in another department has an M.D. and a few others are trained medics) for a crew of 14. In terms of fiction, my own fanfiction starship has a CMO, a head nurse, two doctors-in-training (residents), two junior nurses, a counselor, a Chief Corpsman with battlefield experience, a pharmacist and medical lab technician (both Corpsmen 1st Class), and an EMH (making the total 10/11) for a crew of 200+. However, now that I'm thinking about it, I'm not sure I need the two Corpsmen on this ship, and could move them to the ship's home port and making them part of the base's or sector's medical staff.
It's not canon, but I'm a fairly big fan of the idea that some/most of the Security and Admin/Services NCOs/officers are qualified to at least emergency first aid level, and EMT-level for a least one person per department per shift.
Voyager is supposed to have a doctor and a nurse. We see them in the pilot episode but both are killed. The EMH was never intended to serve for as long as it has, on a ship that size.
Sickbay is right against the starboard hull of the stardrive, as they mention in an episode where they plan to just jettison sickbay, which the Intrepid class apparently can do as a last resort contagion protocol. So it has no protection at all from nearly any danger the ship faces, and took serious damage in the pilot. But given how we see Voyager regrow everything, she can apparently just build a new sickbay if that happens. No thought was given to the fact that the humann medic staff could die so easily. But on a small ship they could go home and replace them quickly. Except Voyager.
Was talking to a Petty Officer with Tri-Service Joint Medical Training Command for the UK Armed Forces and apparently the above is common for at least Logistics Branch (writer (YM/PS), supply/logistics & chef/steward). Training in DC (esp firefighting) and duty Helmsman (especially on submarines) is also common.
It's called Self-Aid / Buddy Care, mandatory training every three (??) years plus just before deployment or overseas transfer for all USAF personnel, if memory serves. (I've been retired for ten years, so forgive me if I don't remember exactly.)
I'm talking about CPR (inc defibrilator and oxygen), non-surgical immediate trauma care, basic physio and pharmacology were the topics he mentioned are covered, ie a good chunk of the EMT-Basic course. Is what you mean?
Well, no, not quite that in-depth. CPR is offered but not mandatory. Think first-aid needed for a car accident or gunshot victim before EMTs get there. You don't learn how to do an IV or anything like that, but you do learn how to stop major bleeding and such. We have emergency defibrillators in our building at work, and there are several people trained how to use them. Oddly enough, one must be CPR certified first before being allowed to go to the defibrillator class, even though the medical community doesn't require that. Still, I agree that with future tech in the Star Trek era, the Self-Aid / Buddy Care training will probably include a lot of stuff today's EMTs can only dream of. All combat troops (Marines / Security) should be issued a tactical medical scanner and med-kit, and every ground combat unit will have a Corpsman assigned.
Okay that makes sense. Really? That surprises me. Medical gases (O2 and N2O [sold as Entonox or Nitronox] is definately an 'add-on' skill in the UK, but CPR is definately a pre-requisate (or taught alongside) AED training in the UK. Having volunteered with the St John Ambulance since 2000 and been a first responder for most of that period I would know. The Starfleet term appears to be Medical Technician rather than Corpsman (see Simon Tarses, a CM1 who probably shouldn't be outranked by YMN3 Lawton). But otherwise I agree.
One of the military guys I work with went to the AED training. The unit First Sgt made him go thru CPR first, but then the med-tech teaching the AED said that wasn't required. Presumably, one or the other was wrong. {shrug} At any rate, he knows both now, which is a good thing.
Oddly, my experience would suggest that it was the instructor that was wrong (which is unusual). But I agree that knowing both is definately better.
I think that bigger ships are able to be space going hospitals in cases of emergencies hence the bigger staffs (especially with Galaxy Class ships).