Medical practitioner
A medical practitioner or medical expert was an individual skilled in the science of medicine, who specifically provided health care services and advice. The designations and responsibilities of medical officers, medical staff or medical personnel varied by their level of expertise, and included such occupations as physicians, surgeons, dentists, apothecaries, nurses, midwives, psychologists, and psychiatrists.

The planet , which had a germ-free atmosphere and thus an overpopulation of healthy Gideon people, had no need for medical practitioners. As such, after James T. Kirk noted an injury to his arm where he had blood drawn from it, their Ambassador Hodin apologized, explaining of the lack of medical skill, "we were unforgivably awkward to have hurt you." ()

In 2371, when Kes asked for some nitrogenated soil samples, The Doctor mentioned that "Now I know how Hippocrates felt when the king needed him to trim a hangnail." Kes noted that he was "very sensitive," which The Doctor took to mean, "as a medical practitioner, I require a certain sensitivity to properly address a patient." Kes then reiterated her statement, saying, "I'm talking about you as a person." ()

The following year, when The Doctor inquired to the Phage infected Vidiian, Danara Pel, "what someone with an illness like yours was doing alone in space with no access to medical care?," she explained that she "was helping to treat an outbreak of the Phage on Fina Prime." Upon hearing this, The Doctor inquired if she was some kind of medical practitioner, to which she explained that she was a hematologist. Noting her expertise, The Doctor suggested that she could help him with her own treatment. ()

Types of medical practitioners

List of medical practitioners

See also 
 Emergency Medical Holographic program
 Medical specialist
 Medical team
 Emergency medical technician
 Medic

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