Duties and Responsibilities: Medical Officers may range from one or two assistants on smaller starships to as many as a dozen or more doctors and nurses on larger classes. In addition, specialized medical personnel may be temporarily or permanently assigned when the ship's size or mission dictates. The medical staff is usually commensurate with the ship's overall crew complement (usually from 2%-3% of the ship's complement, with a minimum of 4-5 personnel).
Most medical departments can, as a minimum, render emergency aid to a member of any known race in distress and keep that individual alive until a more intensive medical care can be provided, such as a Starbase or other facility. All Medical Officers report directly to the Chief Medical Officer.
The primary responsibilities of the medical officer are prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of medical problems experienced by starship or station personnel. Prevention of medical problems is accomplished through the use of routine physicals. All personnel are required to submit to physical examinations as required by Starfleet Regulations or the medical officer. Diagnosis of medical problems is the accomplshed through the use of advanced medical systems. These systems include medical tricorders, biobeds, sensor clusters, and extensive medical references. Treatment of medical problems is accomplished through the use of medical resources, which include medical equipment (e.g. hyposprays, neural stimulators, etc.) as well as holistic agents (e.g. medicines, physical therapy, etc.).