Do you like Tom as the medic?

[mysticgeek]

So, after my 10th time watching Voyager, I have decided that I am not too cool with Tom Paris being the Doctor's assistant, or medic as it were.

Kes was the PERFECT character for the job. I loved her in that role before she left.

Then again, I can't figure out a character from the crew who could be in that role either. I mean, could you see Tuvok, b'elanna, or Harry in that position? I don't think so.

Maybe the Doctor could have had a holographic assistant?

What do you guys think?

 

[Terok Nor]

Should have just kept Kes. Failing that he could have a trained a willing crewmember the way he did with Kes. It was silly to have the ship's pilot do double duty as the nurse.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

He got the job because he took a semester of biochemistry at the Academy, that makes him qualified to become the ship's medic?

What about any of the life sciences officers/specialists onboard, I believe that was Samantha Wildman's area of expertise. Or better yet, why not train multiple crewmembers across every department to serve as field medics? I'm sure there would already be a few onboard (who took the same course Worf did), but with no hope of replacement crew it'd be only logical to cover all their bases.

Then of course there is the Jurot/Jarot paradox

They definitely should've kept Kes though.

 

[Melakon]

When your available choices are a Starfleet guy or a Talaxian ragpicker, go with the Starfleet guy.

 

[stardream]

From a 'real' world Starfleet standpoint Kes was probably the better assistant. She was a fast learner and seemed to genuinely like the job. She and the Doctor helping each other with life lessons was good but it could only go so far. After a while the dynamic became boring to me. I would imagine it would have been difficult for the writers to come up with interesting scenarios for them. After a while it was just 'hand me that' or 'prepare this'. Her most interesting scenes took place away from sick bay.

They should have given Tom a better background to qualify...his father taught survivalist training. He could have dragged Tom along on high adventure expeditions and Tom could have simply picked up field medic training by simply being there.

And I agree with the whole "There was no one else?" No one in the Maquis who was used to living rough as they hid from the Cardassians knew how to do the 'basics'? No other scientists? However in Revulsions the Doctor said he was the most qualified for the job...unfortunately.

HOWEVER having said that I did enjoy Tom and the Doctor together. I found their sparring amusing because they were such opposites. It was similar to the Neelix and Tuvok and B'Elanna and Seven scenes plus it got Tom away from the helm. For whatever reason the writers just liked to write for the two of them.

People go on about him being a 'bad' medic which he was in the beginning. He didn't want to be there and he always trying to sneak out of it.. but as time went on he got better to the point where he delivered and revived that baby during Friendship One. Medicine was not his passion but he became competent enough for the Doctor to decide to leave the sick bay to him when he decided to leave in Virtuoso.

So while I had questions about it at first in the end I came around. Yes I liked it.

 

[Retu]

I would think every Starfleet crew member would have had at least some sort of basic training in giving first aid. So you have plenty to choose from.

 

[Melakon]

For whatever reason the writers just liked to write for the two of them.

This was probably the real reason. By that time, the writers knew which actors worked well together, onstage and off. Bickering seemed a favorite tool to use ever since Q and Picard, which was elevated by how well de Lancie and Stewart worked together.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Ironic that Paris, of all people, is LESS annoying than the Doctor. That's probably why Tom was a good medic.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

The show was all about making the best out of a bad situation, so choosing the guy who had 1 semester more training than anyone else sorta made sense.

Plus there's the amusing "fish out of water" aspect of making the pilot be a nurse.

I thought it was an OK plot device.

 

[hux]

Kes (non-Stafleet) was not a realistic choice. It needed to be a trained Starfleet individual (who should all have basic first aid training)

Choosing your cracker-jack, ace pilot to be the next in line when it comes to medical duties was clearly dumb, especially when your doctor is a computer program that might get damaged or lost at any time.

There isn't a single person among the 150 crew who isn't doing a slightly pointless job on board and is worth training up? Someone who can fully commit to the ships medical responsibilities if the doctor is out of action? Maybe someone down on deck 13 who spends most of the journey writing poetry due to utter lack of a meaningful role on the ship?

 

[Kilana2]

Someone has to cure the heartburn of the crewmembers, caused by Neelix' meals.....

 

[Catarina]

I shared the doctors protest on the matter but by the end he grew into a great medic which kinda shows a shift in purpose for him and a gained resource for the crew. We all whined how flat the show was. Here's a curve towards adaptation for you.

 

[Melakon]

Too bad Lon Suder didn't make it past "Basics". Though Suder as surgical assistant might have sent crewmembers out the door screaming.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Refresh my memory. Did sick bay take a major hit in the pilot? Is that why everyone in the medical staff was killed? And somehow, even the off duty personnel were killed too? No one in the Life Science department could take the job?

 

[Pondwater]

When your available choices are a Starfleet guy or a Talaxian ragpicker, go with the Starfleet guy.

#teamTom

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Talaxian Ragpickers? One of my favorite Delta Quadrant bands. I especially like their bluegrass version of "Taps."

 

[Melakon]

Refresh my memory. Did sick bay take a major hit in the pilot? Is that why everyone in the medical staff was killed? And somehow, even the off duty personnel were killed too? No one in the Life Science department could take the job?

It's never clear in "Caretaker" how many personnel were assigned to sickbay. Dialogue makes it sound like there was only one doctor and one nurse. Since Janeway had been a science officer in the past, and seemed to fill the role of one as captain, it's surprising there wasn't a larger sciences staff.

EMH: Please state the nature of the medical emergency.
KIM: Multiple percussive injuries.
EMH: Status of your doctor?
KIM: He's dead.
EMH: Point four cc's of trianoline.
KIM: Trianoline?
PARIS: We lost our nurse too.
EMH: How soon are replacement medical personnel expected?
KIM: That could be a problem. We're pretty far away from replacements right now.

Talaxian Ragpickers?

I got ragpicker from a play I was in, The Madwoman of Chaillot. He was the major male character, but I wasn't him. In the film version, he was played by Danny Kaye.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I kind of like the idea of the person who wants the job least being forced into the role, but they never really did much with it, and did a lot more with Kes.

 

[Drone]

From a 'real' world Starfleet standpoint Kes was probably the better assistant. She was a fast learner and seemed to genuinely like the job. She and the Doctor helping each other with life lessons was good but it could only go so far. After a while the dynamic became boring to me. I would imagine it would have been difficult for the writers to come up with interesting scenarios for them. After a while it was just 'hand me that' or 'prepare this'. Her most interesting scenes took place away from sick bay.

They should have given Tom a better background to qualify...his father taught survivalist training. He could have dragged Tom along on high adventure expeditions and Tom could have simply picked up field medic training by simply being there.

And I agree with the whole "There was no one else?" No one in the Maquis who was used to living rough as they hid from the Cardassians knew how to do the 'basics'? No other scientists? However in Revulsions the Doctor said he was the most qualified for the job...unfortunately.

HOWEVER having said that I did enjoy Tom and the Doctor together. I found their sparring amusing because they were such opposites. It was similar to the Neelix and Tuvok and B'Elanna and Seven scenes plus it got Tom away from the helm. For whatever reason the writers just liked to write for the two of them.

People go on about him being a 'bad' medic which he was in the beginning. He didn't want to be there and he always trying to sneak out of it.. but as time went on he got better to the point where he delivered and revived that baby during Friendship One. Medicine was not his passion but he became competent enough for the Doctor to decide to leave the sick bay to him when he decided to leave in Virtuoso.

So while I had questions about it at first in the end I came around. Yes I liked it.

Very perceptive view of the scenario. I would add that he displayed a very caring and sympathetic attitude to his charges, which not only was an interesting, albeit minor, distinction from the Doctor's bedside manner (admittedly less so by that time), but more significantly presented an unaffected window into his true character.

 

[Jeffe525]

They don't say it anymore, but in the beginning of VOY I remember reading or hearing somewhere that the normal crew complement of the Intrepid Class was supposed to be closer to 300, not 150. So I thought it made sense at the time to show at least one major character having to wear two hats.

Janeway may have also made the conscious decision to assign Tom as a way to build character and beef up his resume. After all, he was a convict when he came on board. Maybe she wanted to help keep him from getting sent back if/when they got home.

But I agree that the real reason is because the writers thought it would be fun and interesting to match up McNeil and Picardo.