The Doctor (why didn't they just make more?)

[PopBoy]

Maybe I'm not thinking this through right/maybe it was covered in an episode (that i missed). But I always wondered why the crew couldn't program an medical team rather than just one hologram and enroll Kes & Mr.Paris. Couldn't they request another? Perhaps with less skills+experience but one that could easily handle itself just as well if not better than the pilot of the ship. Maybe a holographic nurse could've been whipped up especially in emergencies.

Ps i seem to recall the episode Latent Image when the doctor faced a massive ethical dilemma over which crewman to save...surely a med-bay with more holographic assistants would've resolved the docs issue.

 

[Mage]

Voyager was very inconsistent in a lot of things. Early on, it was established that the complexity of a hologram like the Doctor was to difficult, and if they ever lost him, they'd be FUBAR'd. Then, later in season 4, there's an episode set several centuries later, where a back-up of the Doctor is found on an alien planet. Quite odd.

In season 5, they whip up a medical consultant for the Doctor, using information from the computer, who's a complete interactive hologram capable of making decisions on his own and the abality to perform complex surgical techniques.

So basicly, to answer your question..... there's no clear answer.

 

[F. King Daniel]

COPY C://NCC74656/LCARS/DAT/MEDBAY/EMH.EXE

INSUFFICIENT MEMORY TO PERFORM OPERATION. ABORT/RETRY/FAIL?





...oh wait, no. They made that Cardassian holodoc without much trouble. I got nuthin'

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

The EMH probably made up bullshit reasons as to why it was impossible so he wouldn't have any rivals for his wonderfulness.

 

[MacLeod]

Maybe I'm not thinking this through right/maybe it was covered in an episode (that i missed). But I always wondered why the crew couldn't program an medical team rather than just one hologram and enroll Kes & Mr.Paris. Couldn't they request another? Perhaps with less skills+experience but one that could easily handle itself just as well if not better than the pilot of the ship. Maybe a holographic nurse could've been whipped up especially in emergencies.

Ps i seem to recall the episode Latent Image when the doctor faced a massive ethical dilemma over which crewman to save...surely a med-bay with more holographic assistants would've resolved the docs issue.

Or wait for it a stasis chamber which we know the ship has, and with only having one Doctor onboard and no nursing staff to speak about would make sense to have at least one availble at all times so you can freeze someone whilst working on another.

Sorry I think I was applying some logic, please forgive me.

 

[PopBoy]

Maybe I'm not thinking this through right/maybe it was covered in an episode (that i missed). But I always wondered why the crew couldn't program an medical team rather than just one hologram and enroll Kes & Mr.Paris. Couldn't they request another? Perhaps with less skills+experience but one that could easily handle itself just as well if not better than the pilot of the ship. Maybe a holographic nurse could've been whipped up especially in emergencies.

Ps i seem to recall the episode Latent Image when the doctor faced a massive ethical dilemma over which crewman to save...surely a med-bay with more holographic assistants would've resolved the docs issue.

Or wait for it a stasis chamber which we know the ship has, and with only having one Doctor onboard and no nursing staff to speak about would make sense to have at least one availble at all times so you can freeze someone whilst working on another.

Sorry I think I was applying some logic, please forgive me.

Yes, Latent Image is an interesting episode don't get me wrong. But when you think about it - they could've (As you say) put one of the injured in stasis or have one or two holo-medical programes to assist in such scenarios.

 

[NightJim]

Having just watched The Swarm last night, that episode at least hints that the program is massive and hugely complex and not for long term use. B'elanna did some jiggery pokery to keep it stable that failed after two years. I'd imagine if you start adding extra programs to that

Thinking about it, the episode makes it quite clear that the fix for the EMH they do is temporary at best, and likely to fail further down the line.

My question is, why doesn't someone develop one for Engineering, an EEH if you like (which you probably don't)? Imagine all the problem in there that go wrong that's too dangerous when everyone has to abandon the place. Having someone who can stay there and keep working would be a hell of boon, way more than an extra pair of hands the EMH was designed to be.

 

[MacLeod]

Maybe I'm not thinking this through right/maybe it was covered in an episode (that i missed). But I always wondered why the crew couldn't program an medical team rather than just one hologram and enroll Kes & Mr.Paris. Couldn't they request another? Perhaps with less skills+experience but one that could easily handle itself just as well if not better than the pilot of the ship. Maybe a holographic nurse could've been whipped up especially in emergencies.

Ps i seem to recall the episode Latent Image when the doctor faced a massive ethical dilemma over which crewman to save...surely a med-bay with more holographic assistants would've resolved the docs issue.

Or wait for it a stasis chamber which we know the ship has, and with only having one Doctor onboard and no nursing staff to speak about would make sense to have at least one availble at all times so you can freeze someone whilst working on another.

Sorry I think I was applying some logic, please forgive me.

Yes, Latent Image is an interesting episode don't get me wrong. But when you think about it - they could've (As you say) put one of the injured in stasis or have one or two holo-medical programes to assist in such scenarios.

But even with it's flaws in logic, it was still one of VOY's better episodes.

 

[PopBoy]

Yes i agree. I said that. Its a really good episode. But it did make me think about the crew not coming up with a holo-nurse or two.

 

[captainkirk]

My question is, why doesn't someone develop one for Engineering, an EEH if you like (which you probably don't)? Imagine all the problem in there that go wrong that's too dangerous when everyone has to abandon the place. Having someone who can stay there and keep working would be a hell of boon, way more than an extra pair of hands the EMH was designed to be.

I think Kirk would have found that very useful.

 

[NightJim]

My immediate reaction was that you were making a joke about an extra pair of hands. Then I realised what you actually meant.

Yes, let's call that exhibit one for why it's a good idea.

 

[PopBoy]

hahahha! Yeah, basically....my point is how you've described it. An extra pair of hands would've been reaaaaally useful!

 

[Melakon]

. . .My question is, why doesn't someone develop one for Engineering, an EEH if you like (which you probably don't)? Imagine all the problem in there that go wrong that's too dangerous when everyone has to abandon the place. Having someone who can stay there and keep working would be a hell of boon, way more than an extra pair of hands the EMH was designed to be.

This sort of happens with Leland Orser's character of Dejaren in "Revulsion". He's a maintenance hologram, but poorly treated by his crewmates and becomes a psychopath.

 

[LobsterAfternoon]

I reckon the nature of emergency engineering problems sorta makes a hologram a really bad choice as a helper. Power fluctuations could make the hologram appear/disappear. Imagine having a holographic engineer who shorts out and drops a plasma torch in a warp core or something.

 

[C.E. Evans]

To me, the EMH was never meant for long-time usage--about 63 days maximum of continuous operation, IIRC--and under ideal circumstances, would never be used at all.

 

[R. Star]

Well first the EMH was too complicated to copy... then they gained the ability to make a backup module with a fully working version of the program... then immediately lost it, and the ability to make another one as it was again impossible to copy the EMH when he teleported to Jupiter station to treat Zimmerman. So... yeah.

 

[NightJim]

I reckon the nature of emergency engineering problems sorta makes a hologram a really bad choice as a helper. Power fluctuations could make the hologram appear/disappear. Imagine having a holographic engineer who shorts out and drops a plasma torch in a warp core or something.

Good point, I still think it wouldn't be a bad idea as a option, especially on ships that have fully equipped holoprojectors anyway, but it'd need some damn strict safety features.

Though the obvious answer is robots. I often wondered why a society that can create Data how there were never anything less than. Like Star Wars' droids. From a real world perspective I realise I just answered my own question, it'd be stealing/not unique. But I'm not looking for C-3PO/R2-D2 main characters. Just in the background to acknowledge it's possible.

 

[KaraBear]

The holographic doctor was not meant to be used long term. It was made in the hopes of never being used. You would only need it if your own medical team was gone, and in that case you would return to base and get a new team. Voyager couldn't do that so they had to have the EMH running long term, something the program wasn't meant for.

But the program was still quite massive. It combined the knowledge of 47 different doctors, and something like 5,000 different medical procedures. The program was too big for more than one copy.

The cardassian consultant on the other hand was a simple program based on one person's research. It wasn't a backup fully functioning doctor meant to deal with any medical crisis that may arise. It was a talking encyclopedia. A much simpler and much smaller program

 

[bbjeg]

I know one of thier reasons for not making copies was his program was too big but I never understood why they couldn't copy it after they got the mobile emitter.

​

 

[Stoo]

We touched on some of these questions in the "Why don't the EMH's hands move super FAST?" thread. I'd have thought there could be extra holographic agents, either controlled by the doctor's program (effectively giving him multiple bodies), or more simplistic "nurse" units that aren't sentient but can still handle routine activities.

The cardassian consultant on the other hand was a simple program based on one person's research. It wasn't a backup fully functioning doctor meant to deal with any medical crisis that may arise. It was a talking encyclopedia. A much simpler and much smaller program

Yeah I don't buy that at all. Nothing of what we see suggests it couldn't handle treating general sick and injured. It has extensive knowledge, an advanced personality, and actively directed studies on that alien creature. It engaged with the doctor in ethical debates.

Yet a program this advanced would, if presented with say a burn victim, just shrug and not be able to help?