Usually, Pulaski comes off less favorably than Crusher, in discussions about what person we like better, but I'm curious to know which people think is the better physician. There's a lot that could support pros & cons for both.
I always felt they made more attempts to have Pulaski seem a respected or renowned doctor. That's not to say they necessarily wanted us to think of her as more exceptional than Crusher, just that we should think of her as exceptional. Unfortunately, in 1 season they did it so often, that in comparison to how little they made mention of Crusher similarly, it made it seem like Pulaski was better than her
Honestly, I'm trying to wrack my brain to remember instances where Crusher was heralded as exceptionally outstanding, in some manner, & all I recall is she'd been appointed head of Starfleet Medical, which while a very prestigious appointment, more implies her excellence in leadership & administration, than in physician skill. In fact, similarly, in the series finale, she's captaining her own medical vessel, and while it's possible she's also the CMO. It's also probable someone else would hold that spot, which means once again, she's heralded for leadership.
But at no point do I recall there been any "We have to have Beverly Crusher for this case" kind of moments (I could be forgetting) in the way Pulaski was called on, to take over Picard's artificial heart transplant, for example. Then there's the negative factors to consider, Pulaski exposing herself to a deadly condition in Unnatural Selection, which was less a sign of poor skill, but poor judgement on her own behalf, or Beverly having to take a back seat for a while in Ethics, to a specialist, which is a stunt they never pulled on Pulaski. Beverly too had her share of poor judgement in ways as well. She is kind of the reason for whatever happened in Genesis. It's hard to call these things solely either of their fault though. Yet, she's also on point saving Picard in Tapestry. It can go either way
So where do you weigh in? I'm leaning toward Pulaski at the moment lol
I always felt they made more attempts to have Pulaski seem a respected or renowned doctor. That's not to say they necessarily wanted us to think of her as more exceptional than Crusher, just that we should think of her as exceptional. Unfortunately, in 1 season they did it so often, that in comparison to how little they made mention of Crusher similarly, it made it seem like Pulaski was better than her
Honestly, I'm trying to wrack my brain to remember instances where Crusher was heralded as exceptionally outstanding, in some manner, & all I recall is she'd been appointed head of Starfleet Medical, which while a very prestigious appointment, more implies her excellence in leadership & administration, than in physician skill. In fact, similarly, in the series finale, she's captaining her own medical vessel, and while it's possible she's also the CMO. It's also probable someone else would hold that spot, which means once again, she's heralded for leadership.
But at no point do I recall there been any "We have to have Beverly Crusher for this case" kind of moments (I could be forgetting) in the way Pulaski was called on, to take over Picard's artificial heart transplant, for example. Then there's the negative factors to consider, Pulaski exposing herself to a deadly condition in Unnatural Selection, which was less a sign of poor skill, but poor judgement on her own behalf, or Beverly having to take a back seat for a while in Ethics, to a specialist, which is a stunt they never pulled on Pulaski. Beverly too had her share of poor judgement in ways as well. She is kind of the reason for whatever happened in Genesis. It's hard to call these things solely either of their fault though. Yet, she's also on point saving Picard in Tapestry. It can go either way
So where do you weigh in? I'm leaning toward Pulaski at the moment lol
