Isn't it dumb to only have 1 Doctor on Voyager and NX-01 Enterprise?

[Paul Weaver]

Perhaps because Sickbay is in essence the equivalent of a Hospital, last I checked Hospitals are manned 24/7.

To operate a 24/7 shift pattern, including covering mealtimes, you need about 6 shifts.

In the real world, Pitcairn has 1 doctor looking after the island's population, with outside help being days away. Same applies in Antarctica. If there's an emergency, the doctor will be woken up. If the doctor is incapacitated then you have to make do.

 

[Prax]

Hospitals service HUGE numbers of people. A starship like Voyager or Enterprise has a hundred or so physically fit crewmen in the prime of the life.

 

[TonyLeung82]

Did Chakoteya have a "crew" when fleeing the Cardassians? Or just self-loading cargo in a hurry to leave a compromised Maquis hideout? We learn from "For the Uniform" that the Maquis are ready to evacuate a planet at the drop of a WMD, and this is what we might be seeing in the VOY pilot as well, with Chakotay and a few trusted friends whisking thirty random hoodlums away from the Cardassian attackers while other ships flee in other directions.

Timo Saloniemi

This is a nice theory, if it was really Chakotays "Crew" or just random people onboard fleeing from the Cardassians.


The ship from Chakotay the "Val Jean" was approximately 60 meters long (maximum, maybe smaller). The episode "Repression" gives the information, that 36 Maquis + Tuvok = 37 have been added to the Voyager crew complement; we do not know if there have been casualties like on Voyager as the Val Jean has been pulled to the DQ. If there have been more, there even could have been maybe 40 people on board. 40 people on such a small ship can not be comfortabel, so this would support your theory that there have been random people on board of the Val Jean instead of a permanent crew.

 

[TonyLeung82]

Remember Voyager lost at least a sixth maybe a fifth of her crew by the caretaker-the Maquis made up the difference.

it hasnt been sooo much :-)
Voyager lost 18 people getting pulled to the DQ, so it is maybe an 8th (141 crew from start)

 

[ewoodcourt]

As I think has been pointed out the CMO on Voyager died during the initial attack and the EMH took over. I do still agree that there is a lack of medical personnel, but I suspect it might have more to do with the fact having a large cast of sickbay crew would have been too expensive/taken too screentime away from the rest of the crew

 

[MacLeod]

Hospitals service HUGE numbers of people. A starship like Voyager or Enterprise has a hundred or so physically fit crewmen in the prime of the life.

Hospitals also have dozens of Doctors to serve those thousands of people. Having 3 or 4 Doctors on a Galaxy Class ship wouldn't be unresanble. We know they had a t least two

Dr. Crusher
Dr. Selar


TOS also had at least two Doctors
Dr. McCoy
Dr. M'Benga

 

[Voth commando1]

Also remember Voyager's maiden mission was to pick up Tuvok and bring in the Maquis-not a short stop at McDonald's by any means but not a long term mission.

So there wasn't much need for that big a medical staff.

 

[Takeru]

One doctor for small crews like those of Voyager or Enterprise makes perfect sense. It's probbaly enough to keep sickbay open for walk in patients for 2 or 3 hours per day, the rest of the shift the doctor can do scientific work or other stuff.

People just don't get seriously sick that often, for actual emergencies the doctor would be in call 24/7, but a headache or diarrhea or whatever the crew gets more often can wait until the next day, those are not emergencies and do not require immediate treatment.

 

[The Wormhole]

Hospitals also have dozens of Doctors to serve those thousands of people. Having 3 or 4 Doctors on a Galaxy Class ship wouldn't be unresanble. We know they had a t least two

Dr. Crusher
Dr. Selar

Three, there was also Dr. Martin.

 

[Jayson1]

One doctor for small crews like those of Voyager or Enterprise makes perfect sense. It's probbaly enough to keep sickbay open for walk in patients for 2 or 3 hours per day, the rest of the shift the doctor can do scientific work or other stuff.

People just don't get seriously sick that often, for actual emergencies the doctor would be in call 24/7, but a headache or diarrhea or whatever the crew gets more often can wait until the next day, those are not emergencies and do not require immediate treatment.

The problem for me is a Starfleet ship is always in danger of finding itself in a battle situation or facing unusual space phenomenon so you never know how much your going to need a medical staff so it makes since that you would always be prepared, even on what is supose to be routine missions and I got to think going into a situation were you might have to fight the maquis doesn't even sound that routine to me. Neither does it with Enterprise going into deep space for the first time. If Phlox got killed you would be in a bad situation and to make things worse is you would have to basically cut your mission short and return to earth.

Jason

 

[Nyotarules]

The problem for me is a Starfleet ship is always in danger of finding itself in a battle situation or facing unusual space phenomenon so you never know how much your going to need a medical staff so it makes since that you would always be prepared, even on what is supose to be routine missions and I got to think going into a situation were you might have to fight the maquis doesn't even sound that routine to me. Neither does it with Enterprise going into deep space for the first time. If Phlox got killed you would be in a bad situation and to make things worse is you would have to basically cut your mission short and return to earth.
Jason

Exactly its not as if starships spend their time cruising around just one planet for just six months. They are gone for years and gone into deep space. The Xindi mission took one year, if Phlox was killed they would be screwed. The 23rd century missions on Constellation starships were for five years in deep space. TOS had a senior Vulcan officer on board that Dr. McCoy hardly knew how to treat, hence the need for M'Benga, which was ridiculous, does Starfleet Academy not teach inter-species medicine? By the time of the movies Enterprise was no longer 99% human and 1% alien, so hopefully they had the medical staff to deal with the changes.

 

[The Wormhole]

The 23rd century missions on Constellation starships were for five years in deep space.

The five year mission did not mean five years in deep space, as there were plenty of times during TOS where the Enterprise visited starbases and Federation world, including core worlds like Vulcan and even Earth itself. Not to mention crew transfers on and off the Enterprise were a regular thing throughout TOS.

 

[Nyotarules]

The five year mission did not mean five years in deep space, as there were plenty of times during TOS where the Enterprise visited starbases and Federation world, including core worlds like Vulcan and even Earth itself. Not to mention crew transfers on and off the Enterprise were a regular thing throughout TOS.

In universe they were meant to seek out new life and new civilisations and go where no one had gone before. However on T.V they spent most of their time doing the opposite lol
The novelverse fulfilled the mission statement much better

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

TOS had a senior Vulcan officer on board that Dr. McCoy hardly knew how to treat, hence the need for M'Benga, which was ridiculous, does Starfleet Academy not teach inter-species medicine?

I'm sure he did all kinds of other things for the Human patients we never saw/heard him do. But his Vulcan expertise came in particular handy. Perhaps they exchange knowledge, teach each other things they've learned. But when Spock is circling the drain, McCoy defers to his expert colleague.

 

[Tenacity]

In universe they were meant to seek out new life and new civilisations and go where no one had gone before. However on T.V they spent most of their time doing the opposite, lol.

Not really, while not exclusive they spend a fair amount of time venturing out into the darkness. Proportionally more than TNG ever did.

which was ridiculous, does Starfleet Academy not teach inter-species medicine?

McCoy didn't know about the inner "eyelid," and (understandably) didn't know of Pon Farr. But otherwise seemed to be knowledgeable enough to treat and operate on Spock. Besides, Spock being a hybrid might have put Mbenga in the same boat as McCoy.

 

[Prax]

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[The Wormhole]

The novelverse fulfilled the mission statement much better

No, even in novels they still end up in situations where they're transporting Federation ambassadors, in regular contact with Starfleet ships and starbases, and crew rotations on and off the ship are still a thing throughout the 5YM. Hell, within the past five years alone, we've had novels where Sulu transferred off the Enterprise and eventually transferred back, not to mention the departure of Chekov and arrival of Arex was depicted in two separate novels.

 

[Gary7]

When you look at a lot of what a doctor has to do, you don't need a sophisticated program. Devices are highly adept at scanning and discovery. Automated medical assistance would be commonplace for a large percentage of medical needs. I think the need for surgery will be tremendously mitigated, because prevention will be highly effective. Remember people coming into sickbay with a headache? I was like... HUH? At that point, every person would have their own medicine cabinet in their state rooms that provide instant relief from aches and pains. Dermal regenerators for simple cuts. You go to the automated doctor for routine physical exams. The EMH is there for triage and severe cases. Definitely needed in combat situations or if a terrible accident occurs requiring medical attention beyond the basics. That kind of medical facility makes a lot more sense to me. But Star Trek couldn't do that... they needed it to be entertaining and so a single doctor character made sense. Fine for story... but not for realism.

 

[Timo]

Coming to complain to Doc about a headache is probably highly realistic - now that there is a medical specialist aboard, people will invent ailments just for the chance to talk to the man, woman or BEM and break the dull routine. And the Doc will be fine with it, and share a private moment and perhaps some recreational drugs with the "patient", thus preempting yet another case of homicidal mania. After all, it's not as if the Doc would have anything else to do, most of the time.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

There will still be minor symptoms which seem to be straightforward enough, like a headache, which might actually indicate a pending emergency case. You could perform simple automated tests on yourself, and the doctor would receive the results; any which required physician follow-up would be flagged and you'd earn a trip to sickbay.

Besides, the doctor, whoever he or she is, can be a friend and confidante. If a crew member is in an abusive relationship, say, they could come to the doctor to be treated for a bruise and, while there, confide in them. A doctor may prefer their patients to see them regularly so they can informally assess their state of mind and general health by observation of body language, word choice, concerns, etc.