Atoz 77
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Post by Atoz 77 on Nov 12, 2013 8:54:00 GMT -6
A medical officer can become captain of her own vessel. Medical ships are captained by doctors attached to Starfleet and not standard Starfleet Command officers. Actually, this does not make a lot of sense to me. Why would it take a doctor to command a medical ship? A medical doctor has expertise in healing the sick, tending to injuries. A ship captain has an entirely different set of skills. Now... as I said, a doctor might decide to expand her horizons a bit by taking training in the necessary skills, so that she CAN command a ship (which is what Beverley Crusher did).
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Akira
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Post by Akira on Nov 12, 2013 11:06:39 GMT -6
I see your point Atoz. I would imagine that with the bridge officers exam there are more tests for want of a better term and other considerations before a doctor is actually given a ship. However Starfleet doctors are still Starfleeet officers after all and thus are more equipped for the role of command thanks to the academy training as apposed to just medical school alone. Also medical ships have a limited scope of operation I suppose. I doubt they'd need a captain quite so diverse. I think the other side of the coin makes less sense; assigning a fully trained Starfleet captain to command a medical ship when he would be hugely overqualified for the limited deployment of a medical ship yet woefully under qualified to make determinations of a medical nature.
It is noteworthy also to point out that the prequel for medical ships are the Denobulan medical shuttles in enterprise; all operated by doctors and they roam around populated areas.
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Atoz 77
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Post by Atoz 77 on Nov 14, 2013 8:21:17 GMT -6
The way I see it captains are trained to command ships. Doctors are trained to heal the sick. It seemes to me a waste of a doctor's talents to stick him in a command chair. But as you say there are reasonable arguments on both sides.
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Akira
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Post by Akira on Nov 15, 2013 15:26:10 GMT -6
The way I see it captains are trained to command ships. Doctors are trained to heal the sick. It seemes to me a waste of a doctor's talents to stick him in a command chair. But as you say there are reasonable arguments on both sides. True but it's logical to assume most of the ship's attachment would be medical staff. I'd say it's more of a waste of a Captain to command a medical ship with so limited a portfolio of responsibility.
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