Star Fleet Medical Administration and Hierarchy of Personnel
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Commander, Star Fleet Medical (MEDCOM)
- Currently Vacant
The head of Star Fleet's Medical branch is tasked with overseeing the development and updating of medical information pertinent to ASR and maintaining a database of this material for use by ASR's players.
Star Fleet Medical is nominally divided into two subdivisions- the Medical Science subdivision and the Counseling Science subdivision.
Director, Star Fleet Medical Services (DIRSFMED)
- Currently Vacant
The Medical Science subdivision, headed by the Director of Star Fleet Medical Sciences (DIRSFMED), handles the traditional medical side of SFMED. He or she would handle the development of new medical instruments and surgical techniques, and keep a database of CMO's assigned to the various units in ASR. He or she would also find it useful to keep a glossary of medical terminology, both actual and Star Trek-related. The DIRSFMED would report to the branch head, the Commander of Star Fleet Medical (MEDCOM).
Director, Star Fleet Counseling Services (DIRSFCOU)
- Currently Vacant
The Director of Counseling Science (DIRSFCOU) is responsible for developing supporting material for ASR's COU players. Such material might include a glossary of mental illnesses, guidelines on how to develop and portray a COU in ASR, etc.
Traditionally, the MEDCOM has not needed more than the two subdivision chiefs to administer the branch. However, an optional subdivision, Star Fleet Medical Investigations, Research and Development (SFMIRD) could be created to help the development process and widen SFMED's scope to include Medical Examiner's duties, if the MEDCOM so desired.
Hierarchy of SFMED Administration
Star Fleet Medical
The Branch of Star Fleet Command directly responsible for all medical assets within all operational theaters of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets
Starfleet Medical Investigations, Research and Development (SFMIRD)
Division of Star Fleet Medical Charged with medical sciences research and the investigation into new infectious diseases and medical breakthroughs.
MEDCOM
The name of the organization is Star Fleet Medical (SFMED).
The name of the director of the organization is Commander, Star Fleet Medical (SFMED)
The director receives a commission as a Commodore. The director is not considered to be a line officer, and is not in line for a CINCFLEET or CINCSF position. The director must have an MD or equivalent degree.
DIRSFMED and DIRSFCOU
Directly under the MEDCOM are the Director of Medical Science and the Director of Counseling Science (DIRSFMED) and (DIRSFCOU). Both positions are subordinate to the MEDCOM. Both the DIRSFMED and the DIRSFCOU are promoted to the rank of Captain. Both are expected to have MD or equivalent degrees.
Technically, the DIRSFMED and DIRSFCOU positions are "coequal". One is not considered to "outrank" the other, although traditionally, the MEDCOM is chosen from the medical side, rather than the counseling side.
How the work of MEDCOM gets done
Special Assistants
There are several special assistants to MEDCOM, and one can expect SFDIRMED and SFDIRCOUNS to have their own special assistants. Some of these titles are created on the spur of the moment, others are job descriptions of long standing.
For example, there is the "Special Assistant to MEDCOM, Star Fleet Engineering". This officer works with the MEDCOM to determine how MEDCOM and SFE can work best together where the authority of SFMED and SFE might overlap -- for example, in coming up with the best design for a starship sickbay. These officers *rarely* serve as the heads of ad hoc committees, and are usually directly responsible to MEDCOM and thier immediate superiors in their branch of service.
Furthermore, there is the "Command Chief, SFM". This non-commissioned officer is responsible for coordinating the work of non-commissioned and enlisted assistants in the medical branch of Star Fleet Service. The Command Chief is the highest ranking non-commissioned officer in the medical branch, and is invariably an Master Chief Petty Officer.
Committees
All of the work of SFM is done by committee. Each committee head reports directly to MEDCOM, if the committee is a joint committee. Medical committees report to MEDCOM and DIRSFMED. Counseling committees report to MEDCOM and DIRSFCOUNS.
Joint Committees
There are two joint committees under the MEDCOM directive. Each committee member may be chosen by either the DIRSFMED or DIRSFCOU. In the event of a disagreement, the MEDCOM determines who shall sit at the committee.
The committees in question are:
- Committee on Resources:
- Chair
- Budgetary
- Accounting
- Progress Reports
- Statistics
- Personnel Management
The pool of candidates usually have strong administrative, economic, or in the case of Statistics, mathematical backgrounds. Committee membership may be proposed either by the DIRSFMED or DIRSFCOU, the MEDCOM traditionally only approves the selection.
- Committee on Ancillary Services:
- Chair
- Laboratory -- usually chosen by DIRSFMED, but DIRSFCOU has increased its frequency of nominations to this seat
- Pharmacy
- Physical Therapy -- usually chosen by DIRSFMED
- Teaching -- usually chosen by DIRSFCOU
- Social Therapy -- usually chosen by DIRSFCOU
- Occupational Therapy -- usually chosen by DIRSFCOU
- Social Work -- chosen by DIRSFCOU
- Theological Perspectives
The pool of candidates usually have strong backgrounds in their respective specialties. Theological Perspectives is usually nominated by an ad hoc committee of theological workers.
- Committee of Health:
- Chair
The seats on this committee are not determined by specialty of practice or training. The size of the Committee of Health has varied from 9 to 12 members.
- Committee of Managed Care
- Chair
The seats on this committee are not determined by specialty of Practice or training, but are almost all administrators who have assisted several UFP Joint Commissions, as well as the Federal Director of Health Services. The size of the Committee of Managed Care has varied from 3 to 10 members.
Separate Committees
There are two Committees on Administration: Committee on Medical Administration, and Committee on Counseling Administration. Each committee chair answers to SFDIRMED or SFDIRCOUNS respectively.
- Committee on Administration (Medical OR Counseling):
- Chair
- Facility Management
- Food Service
- Management Information
- Personnel Management
- Treatment Management
- Patient Administration
- Security
There are also two Committees on Nursing:
- Committee on Nursing (Medical OR Counseling)
- Chair
- Nursing Practice
- Surgical (*only* on the Committee of Medical Nursing)
- Nursing Resources
Medical Committees
These committees answer directly to the DIRSFMED. Most of the DIRSFMED candidates come from the Medical Services committee nearly all of them have served as the chair of this particular committee at some time in their careers.
- Committee on Medical Services
- Chair
- Critical Care
- Emergency Medicine
- Medical Practice
- Surgical Practice
- Pediatrics
- Geriatrics
- Committee of Health, Safety, and Environmental Protection
- Chair
- Health
- Safety
- Environment
- Counseling Committees:
These committees answer directly to the DIRSFCOU. Most of the DIRSFCOU candidates have served as the chair of one or the other of these committees at one time in their careers.
- Committee of Counseling Practice
- Chair
- Cognitive
- Medical
- Substance Abuse
- Psychosis
- Abuse and Neglect
- Pharmacology
- Committee of Counseling Services
- Chair
- Psychiatry (MD degree required)
- Psychology (PhD degree required)
- Recreation
- Management
- Career Counseling
Ad Hoc Committees
The above committees are considered permanent committees. The following committees are considered Ad Hoc Committees. An ad hoc committee is a committee which exists at the pleasure of MEDCOM, and can be disbanded by MEDCOM without a directive from the CINCSF.
Many of these committees are quite temporary in nature, and deal strictly with problems of the moment (The Committee on the Gamma Proctionis Famine, for example, which sat from 2345 to 2348). Other committees have lasted for much longer. The Committee on Medical Standards of Practice, which determines the qualifications for holders of the MD degree who serve in Starfleet, is a Joint Ad Hoc Committee which has existed almost as long as the Starfleet Medical itself.
There is the Medical Committee of Publishing, which referees journal articles for the Journal of Federation Medicine. There is the Counseling Committee of Diplomacy, which determines the protocol for counselors in diplomatic functions and first contact situations. Many of these committees are more prestigious than the permanent committees, and the chairs of these committees are tagged for bigger and better responsibilities. It would be foolish to list *all* of the ad hoc committees due to their temporary nature and continually mutating organization.
- Staci Golladay
RADM Morigan Athyn (Bronson) Fawkes, MD
Commander, Star Fleet Medical
Credits
- Originally written by James Bowman and updated by Edward Bell
