Hippocratic Oath

I swear by Apolo the physician, by Aesulapius, Hygeia, and Panacea, and take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment the following oath:

To consider dear to me as my parents to him who taught me this art;

To live in common with him and if necessary to share my goods with him, to look upon his children as my own brothers, to teach them this art if they so desire without fees or written promise;

To impart to my sons and the sons of the master who taught me and the disciples who have enrolled themselves and have agreed to the rules of the profession, but to these alone, the precepts and the instruction.

I will prescribe regimen for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never to do harm to anyone.  To please no one will I prescribe a deadly drug, nor give advice which may cause his death.  But I will preserve the purity of my life and my art.  I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest.  I will leave this operation for practitioners (specialists in the art).

In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction, and especially from the pleasures of love with women or with men, be they free or slaves.  All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or outside my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal.

If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice my art, respected by all men and in all times; but if I swerve from it or violate it, may the reverse be my lot.

Hippocrates, 460-370 B.C

Father of Terran Medicine

The Medical Officer: Authority, Conduct, and Responsibilities

A medical officer is typically a physician whose job is to protect the health and well being of the ship’s officers and crew. Other health professionals, such as nurses, field medics, medical technicians, and counselors, assist the ship’s medical staff in maintaining the crew’s well-being.  (When there is no counselor aboard, a medical officer will assume this role.) All medical personnel wear the same uniform:  black Starfleet uniform jumpsuit with an aqua blue tunic.  Medical officers are entitled to wear a silver caduceus pin opposite their rank pips to indicate their status; this decoration may be worn with standard and dress uniform. If detached to serve in a combat team, all medical personnel may wear a brassard or some other insignia identifying them as non-combatant medical personnel (see Ethical Considerations, below).

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) is the ranking officer in Sickbay, and the ship’s entire medical staff (medical officers and other medical personnel) answers to him.  He is responsible for all medical procedures aboard ship, from bandaging the smallest cut to performing complex surgery. He is also responsible for maintaining all biohazard protocols aboard ship. When on away missions, a member of the medical staff should be available to provide diagnosis and medical treatment, or transfer the patient to shipboard Sickbay if treatment cannot be provided in the field.

The CMO must also ascertain that the away team’s designated area of operation is “clean,” i.e. free of health hazards such as chemical contaminants, biohazardous materials, and radiation, before allowing the team to leave the ship. If a crewperson cannot be allowed to return to the ship because of exposure to such a biohazard, a medical officer (or, in an emergency, a field medic acting with real-time supervision from a shipboard medical officer) must return to the transport site and treat the crewperson.

The CMO is the only officer aboard ship that can relieve a Commanding Officer from command.  This can only be done if the Commanding Officer is suffering from some medical condition that would impair the officer’s ability to command in such a way that would jeopardize the ship and/or its crew. A CMO must also obtain the concurring opinions of the Executive Officer and one other senior officer in order to legally relieve the Commanding Officer. Relieving a Commanding Officer should never be undertaken lightly, and a CMO will probably only have to do so once or twice in his or her entire career.

The Assistant Medical Officer(s) (AMO) assist the CMO in all aspects of practice.  These officers will be called upon to examine patients, perform treatments, take away-team duty, and handle managerial duties under the supervision of the CMO.  When the CMO is not in Sickbay, the ranking AMO assumes his responsibilities until he returns to duty. 

An AMO is typically a physician in his own right; it is common, however, for those still completing their education to serve the last year of their residency aboard ship as AMO.  In these situations, the CMO will also be responsible for the education of the resident AMO.  CMOs and their AMOs, however, need not specialize in the same fields of practice; often an AMO will be a specialist in a given field, whereas a CMO is more often (but not always) a general physician or surgeon.  Ideally, the relationship between a CMO and AMO is an equal partnership; one officer may hold the advantage in rank, but both should work together to provide the best care possible for the ship’s officers and crew.

The medical officer is morally and professionally obligated to provide medical assistance to whomever it is needed, wherever it is needed. This could cause conflicts with superior officers, but the medical officer must always remember never to endanger the ship; this is his prime responsibility.

The medical officer will also encounter many situations where patients are not suffering from any organic disease, but only need someone with whom to discuss their problems.  By all means assist these patients if possible, but tread cautiously; remember that patients look to a medical officer as an authority figure, not only on rank, but also because of his position as a ship’s physician.  Most patients will instinctively trust a physician, and the medical officer must never abuse that trust.  Carefully consider all aspects of the patient’s problems before handing out advice, and remember that a well-intended but inappropriate statement or action may have repercussions for the well-being of the entire crew.

Medicine covers a wide range of activities not only restricted to the healing of wounded and sick crewpersons.  The families of the crew may also live aboard ship, and the medical officer is also responsible for their care.  The medical logs may thus include details of preventive care, treatments of children, pregnancies, physiotherapies, medical research and experiments, etc.

Finally, medical officers are responsible for keeping their medical knowledge current through continuing medical education. This may be pursued through professional societies at the Federation-wide, planetary or local level (e.g. the Federation College of Surgeons, Starfleet Medical Officers' Association, Betazoid Society of Psychiatry, North American Academy of Pediatrics, et al), attendance at medical conferences, reading of professional journals (e.g. Journal of the Federation Medical Association, Annals of Emergency Medicine, et al), and/or completion of computerized learning modules, available through the LCARS system. Completion of some form of CME is required to keep professional status within nearly all medical systems.