Posted by Lieutenant Ilena Keelara Rox (Chief Medical Officer) in Reporting For Duty in CMO Office

Posted by Cadet Jak’Rash (Doctor) in Reporting For Duty in CMO Office

Posted by Lieutenant Ilena Keelara Rox (Chief Medical Officer) in Reporting For Duty in CMO Office
Posted by… suppressed (18) by the Post Ghost! 👻
A mind buzzing with new ideas and potential, but still frustrated he’d missed graduating Valedictorian but a few decimal points, Jak’Rash buzzed the chime in Rox’s office. Surely, she was expecting him, but manners and professionalism dictated he received permission to enter someone’s work area, especially his new department head. Certainly, he’d appreciate the same courtesy in her position. That is, if his career ever justified his being in her position.

Jak’Rash

As Cadet Neddleberg worked in the sickbay area, he saw a Cadet he had not met yet enter the sickbay area. “Hello Cadet, I am Doctor Neddleberg. You can call me Denali. I just thought I’d introduce myself before you talk to the Department Head. I know I was nervous at first. Anyway, if there is anything I can do to help you adjust to life on the Challenger, let me know. Welcome aboard. The CMO is pretty easy to get along with or at least I found them easy to get along with.”

Cadet Denali Neddleberg, Doctor

“Denali, uhm, thank you for your welcome, I am Jak’Rash. I look forward to working with you in medical.” As was tradition on Earth, Jak’Rash extended his hand to greet his fellow cadet. He hadn’t seen Neddleberg anywhere on campus, but most of his time at the Academy had been spent in his studies, and the rich social life which many students experienced had passed him by. While Jak’Rash wasn’t interested in forming friendships, he understood that having a relationship with the doctors he’d be working with would be beneficial to the environment of his work.

Jak’Rash

OOC: Hello! Welcome to STF and the Challenger! I’m really excited to write with you. I see you already discovered the tags box and your signature at the end of your posts. That’s great. If you need anything feel free to reach out through our contact forms or on Discord if you have it.

Now, on to the story!
IC:
The door to the office opened, “Come in.” Behind the desk, the CMO stood from her chair and waved to the chair opposite her. “You must be Cadet Jak’Rash. Did I pronounce that correctly?” She looked past him, “Denali, I’ll be busy for a few minutes. Will you be alright on your own?”

The CMO had all black eyes, brown hair, and an open friendly smile. Her desk was covered in PaDDs and a few medical texts. There was a large dog in her office, laying in the corner watching her. He was mostly white with a little tan. He wore a vest that said “Working, Please Do Not Distract Me.”

Lt. Rox, Chief Medical Officer

“I will be just fine. I can keep myself entertained and be busy.”

Cadet Denali Neddleberg

“Just comm if you need anything, alright?” Rox said with an encouraging smile before giving her attention back to the newest Cadet.

Jak’rash’s eyes glanced back toward Denali briefly. How could this Cadet be so comfortable in his new role this soon? Surely, he faced some nervousness about the job at hand. Maybe not the same level of tension that the Kaelon felt given the discovery of his new DH, but there seemed to be an almost jovial air around the human.

Cadet Jak’Rash, Doctor

OOC: The thread was split so I am pasting back in the dropped reply. Make sure you are at the end of a thread when replying.

IC:
A Betazoid. Of all the species in the quadrant, why did his boss have to be a Betazoid? He was so pre-occupied with his new department head that he’d hardly noticed the canine.

“Your pronunciation is perfect, doctor. I understand that you may not run across many Kaelons, so I am humbled that you would take the intricacies of my language into consideration. Am I right to assume you are Lieutenant Rox?”

A smile came across Jak’Rash’s lips, but it was pursed and obviously anxious. His race may be immune to Betazoid telepathy, but even a small child could read that the Cadet wasn’t very comfortable.

Jak’Rash

Ilena remembered standing where the Cadet stood now. Reporting for her first ship board assignment. The nervousness and excitement and worry. She gave Jak’Rash a warm smile. “Please sit down. I am looking forward to learning more about you and your people,” she said as she sat back down.

“Tell me about your medical studies.”

Lt. Rox, Chief Medical Officer

Jak’Rash thought for a moment. Surely Dr. Rox had reviewed a copy of his academic record demonstrating his strong performance and placement scores. She was asking for something more specific, that might not be in his records. As he took a seat, the Cadet felt himself relax. Discussing academics was something that he could do for hours socially.

“Aside from what I did on campus, my senior thesis was a work-study on Pacifica as the Junior Research Assistant to the Secretary of Medicine. During my time on planet, there was a lagoon on a small archipelago in the northwestern hemisphere that had become popular among tourists. There is a species of venomous leech native to that lagoon which isn’t known to exist anywhere else in the galaxy. Many tourists returned from the lagoon with blood poisoning, and there was even a handful of deaths which came from the leaches. Government regulations on Pacifica were clear that all oceans were property of the public, so closing the lagoon to the public was out of question. Eradicating the leech wasn’t reasonable either, as it would cause the entire species to go extinct. While our team couldn’t develop a vaccine or cure, we did find a work around for the situation. The Department developed a non-lethal toxin which made a swimmer’s blood unpalatable to the leech. It wasn’t mandated, but it became popular among most tourists. Once it was distributed widely, cases of leech bites decreased by 88% and blood poisoning decreased by 94%. Since the first application of the toxin, there have been no cases of death reported, and it I believe that further studies will completely eliminate the side effects which come with the treatment, which were more annoying than detrimental. And even if the side effects do not subside....”

Jak’Rash caught himself beginning to ramble, and decided to cut the anecdote short. “I am confident that the side effects will be eliminated with further research.”

Cadet Jak’Rash, Doctor

Ilena smiled encouragingly. “Continue, please. I am interested in your work, Cadet, and your approach to problems. What were these side effects?”

Lt. Rox, Chief Medical Officer

Was she legitimately interested? Was this professional courtesy? Jak’Rash tried his best to put his suspicion aside and answer the question directly. “Well, most of the side effects were specific to species. Most common was ear infections in Bajorans, specifically in their pierced ears, there appears to be a disagreement between the toxin and the metal in their earrings. It generally cleared up in about 4 days on its own, and faster with an antibiotic. The side effects that were present across all species were slight fatigue and mild headaches, none of which lasted more than 48 hours.”

Cadet Jak’Rash, Doctor

“And this infection didn’t show up in anyone else with body piercings? That is fascinating. How do you think that could be resolved? Resolving that particular issue, do you think the solution may cause problems for other species who relieve the treatment?” Ilena was genuinely interested. Both from a medical stand point and from learning how Jak’Rash approached problems.

Lt. Rox, Chief Medical Officer

The cadet’s mop of red hair almost started to stand as he got the sense his new chief was following the same thought process he was on the project.
“Ear piercings are the most common, so that’s where the largest sample size was, I don’t believe there were enough specific cases of infection in any other piercings to draw a conclusion. The antibiotic was the remedy, and given the ear infection was not incredibly serious and not present in all cases, it was written off as a side effect. The serum, the piercing and Bajoran blood were the common factors.

Bajoran physiology isn’t mutating any time this century. Having an entire people alter a spiritual symbol for the sake of combating a small side effect from a single dose toxin to reduce exposure to a bite from a single species of parasite which is isolated to one environment on one planet in one system, that comes off as unreasonable.

No, if we were to pursue the problem further, the Department would’ve gone back to formula with the serum and tried to re-engineer it molecularly into something that would’ve reacted better to either the metal in the earring or the Bajoran physiology. But, as it were, the Pacifica government was pleased with the rollout and had the Department move on to additional projects, as far as I know. My academic stay on the planet had finished by that point anyway. At this point, no further research is being done on the serum, but if we wanted to eliminate the ear infection as a side effect, we’d have to go back to formula and find a different compound, or at least, develop an alternative choice for Bajorans with a lower risk to ear infection.”

Cadet Jak’Rash, Doctor

“And there is the crux of one of the biggest dilemmas of being a doctor. ‘The Good of the Many outweighs the good of the few.’ As doctors though we look at the single individual on a daily basis. We see how our actions affect just one person and we focus on them and their well being. Medical research looks at the larger group though. So we are left to determine, what is acceptable and what is not. It can be difficult sometimes to determine where the line is.”

Lt. Rox, Chief Medical Officer

The cadet sighed and a look of contemplation came across his face. “That is one of the conflicts I try to balance in medicine, in Starfleet, in life. Lieutenant, I’m not certain how much you know about my world. My people are standoffish, almost to a point of secrecy about sharing our culture with others because we’ve so often been misunderstood. But a cornerstone ofy species is the belief that the individual wants and desires can never take precedence over that of the whole. If we can help a single person without inconvenience to the community at large, so be it, but once their needs are a greater pull on the society than their contribution to it, nothing further should be done for them. The thought of an entire starship crew risking their safety on a rescue mission for a single high ranking officer is… Troubling.”

Cadet Jak’Rash, Doctor

The Lt. nodded. “It is troubling even for cultures who are the opposite of yours. It is a fine balance. That one person went on to ensure the safety and benefit of the many, the Federation as a whole. Could someone else have done it? There are arguments for yes and no. We will never know for sure. Those types of decisions are ones that we must make with great responsibility.”

“What is your opinion of our Hippocratic Oath? Especially in relation to research?”

Lt. Rox, Chief Medical Officer

“I don’t think anyone is disappointed that the days of practicing medicine for profit are gone, at least in the Federation. The horror stories of patients dying because of their inability to pay for procedures wouldn’t be imaginable if there weren’t records of them.

The same goes for the knowledge of medicine. For many years, class was a barrier in the passing of knowledge, and information and misinformation was used as a tool to keep the laborers in their place. I am pleased that we’ve evolved beyond this.

I find it ironic that we still carry the old Greek’s as the standard of practice. Millennia before the first warp engine was designed, the ethics what we do were the same as they are now.

There are times when indeed, we must harm a patient, but can justify it with the greater good. If you break your leg, you may experience great pain while I set the bone, but it is necessary for healing to take place. Years ago, implementation of a drug would often require puncturing a recipients skin with a sharp needle. Sometimes, we are required to administer some harm, like my toxic serrum on Pacifica, in order to reduce greater harm, like blood poisoning from the leeches.

In the context of research, computer simulations have come a long way in limiting the need for living research subjects, but in the end there is still a margin of error to be accounted for that can only be eliminated through application to live humanoids. As in many things, this issue boils down to consent. If a patient is able to consent to being a research subject, their consent is a basic requirement before moving forward, even if the greater part of society would benefit, their personal liberty should be honored .”

Cadet Jak’Rash, Doctor

“What if their personal liberty means allowing them to refuse a treatment that would be life saving?” Rox asked.

Lt. Rox, Chief Medical Officer

“If we are going to acknowledge a being’s right to choose, we can’t acknowledge it only as far as our sensibilities allow us. If a Klingon is injured in battle and wishes to die honorably rather than undergo a life saving procedure, we have an obligation to respect that, and not keep them alive against their will. While I have the freedom to refuse to bring that injured patient his knife, I don’t have the freedom to keep him alive if he expresses his wishes for me not to. Just because we have the ability to prolong someone’s life doesn’t give us the right to against their wishes.”

Cadet Jak’Rash, Doctor

Rox nodded. Jak’Rash seemed to have a firm grasp on the ethics of it. Though she knew from personal experience, it wasn’t always so easy to put into practice. “Where do you feel are your weaknesses in your medical practice, Cadet? What do you wish you had more time to learn, to improve, to make yourself a better doctor? I am looking for specifics.”

Lt. Rox, Chief Medical Officer

Jak’Rash knew this would be coming but it didn’t make addressing it any easier. “I don’t know if it’s accurate to say weaknesses, but there is a field where I do not have as much experience. Most of my work has been in research, in a lab, and I don’t have a much time invested in treatment of live patients. While I am certain I will effectively carry the knowledge from textbooks and simulations into practice, not every patient is a willing one, so my ‘bedside manner’ is not as polished as others. My people are not in the practice of hiding our emotions, even in professional settings, so detaching my work from how I feel is going to be something I can see myself running into.”

Cadet Jak’Rpsh, Doctor

Rox made a note on her PaDD. “Unfortunately that is a skill that doctors need. I am not saying a lack of emotion, but the ability to out it aside and give neutral Medical news and advice. To not allow our feelings to influence what a patient chooses.” She leaned forward slightly, “I won’t lie and say it is easy or that you get better with practice. It is something that, for myself at least, I have to always remind myself of. “

Leaning back she glanced at the PaDD. “So more real patient interaction. From what you have said, would I be correct in saying that medical research is where you feel best prepared?”

Lt. Rox, Chief Medical Officer

“Yes,” Jak’Rash nodded. “I can get caught up in research for days without sleeping or eating if I don’t set reminders of myself, but I would benefit greatly from patient interaction, or at least shadowing so an unfortunate patient doesn’t have to be my test subject.”

Cadet Jak’Rash, Doctor