Star Trek Question: Was McCoy the only doctor on the Enterprise?

Question

And in the later series they only had one doctor as well.
How did one doctor take care of a crew of 500 people?

Answer 1

McCoy was the only doctor on the ship.

Only one doctor was needed because no matter what was the ailment, the computer produced some kind of hypodermic that, when injected into the subject, instantly cured them.

Answer 2

No McCoy was not the only Doc on the Enterprise, he was Chief Medical Officer (CMO). The only one seen however was Doctor M'Benga (2 episodes) who interned in a Vulcan ward. There was another Doctor mentioned, Doctor Sanchez who was conducting an autopsy on a crewman who was killed by Losira. The Enterprise also had two other Doctors prior to McCoy, Mark Piper and Phillip Boyce.

The only ship who had one Doctor was Voyager because the medical staff was killed and that left thme only with the EMH.

The Enterprise D had Doctor Selar (a Vulcan) who was seen in one episode and mentioned in several others.

All the "Star Trek" Docs were CMO's and therefore at the front of any medical crisis.

Answer 3

hey we are talking TV here, not reality. So at the time (60's) the cast of shows were minimal and even the sets look unrealistic for show. as for the later series, like Next Generation there were tons of people in Sick Bay. I remember the asian lady, and a few others, so it became more doctors, but I think the point of entertainment is not to have such a large amount of casting uneccesary people to move the story along. You only put in people that are necessary for each episode. Nothing in entertainment is realistic, I mean I never saw the STar Trek go to the bathroom .

Answer 4

Not sure what you mean by only doctor. Do you mean only doctor on board at one time or only doctor on board ever?

If you mean only doctor on board at one time then the answer is yes however there are other medical staff on board, such as Nurse Chapel, that assisted McCoy.

If you are asking if McCoy was the only doctor on the old Enterprise from the original 60s tv show then the answer is no. There was originally a doctor known as Dr. Boyce. He can be seen in the episode that features Christopher Pike.

Answer 5

Three things.

1. He was not the only doctor. Next Generation did not have only one doctor, either. There are multiple episodes of both where Bones or Dr. Crusher were working on patients, and other nurses or doctors were helping.

2. Had they had only one doctor, however, don't forget that their technology was advanced. More times than not, they waved the wand over a person, and they were all better.

3. I am a dork for knowing any of this. :-)

Answer 6

i think in a few episodes he left people in the care of other doctors
late series i think only one doctor but had nurses

now you got me thinking
I'm going to have to sit down and watch them all the way through
i am going to tell me wife it's your fault

Answer 7

I believe he was though he had Nurses to help and with there technology a kid could of healed just about anything
except as noticed in TNG male pattern baldness

Answer 8

Thats why he pissed off all the time, all those sick folks and no one to help except a few hot nurses.

Answer 9

he is just good.