The medical & counseling department is responsible for the mental and physical health of the crew, from running annual physicals to combatting a strange plague that is afflicting the crew to helping a crew member deal with the loss of a loved one.
- Chief Medical Officer: The Chief Medical Officer is responsible for the physical health of the entire crew but does more than patch up injured crew members. His/her function is to ensure that they do not get sick or injured to begin with, and to this end monitors their health and conditioning with regular checkups. If necessary, the Chief Medical Officer can remove anyone from duty, even a Commanding Officer. Besides this s/he is available to provide medical advice to any individual who requests it. Additionally, the Chief is also responsible for all aspects of the medical deck, such as the medical labs, surgical suites and dentistry labs. S/he also is a department head and a member of the Senior Staff and responsible for all the crew members in her/his department and duty rosters.
- Chief Counselor: Because of their training in psychology, technically the ship’s facility’s Counselor is considered part of STARFLEET medical. The Counselor is responsible both for advising the Commanding Officer in dealing with other people and races, and in helping crew members with personal, psychological, and emotional problems. The Chief Counselor is considered a member of the Senior Staff. S/he is responsible for the crew in his/her department. The Chief Counselor is the Counselor with the highest rank and most experience.
- Assistant Chief Medical Officer: A starship or facility has numerous personnel aboard, and thus the Chief Medical Officer cannot be expected to do all the work required. The Asst. Chief Medical Officer assists the Chief in all areas, such as administration, and application of medical care.
- Medical Officer: Medical Officer undertakes most of the work aboard the ship/facility, examining the crew, and administering medical care under the instruction of the Chief Medical Officer and Assistant Chief Medical Officer also run the other medical areas not directly overseen by the Chief Medical Officer.
- Surgeon: Doctors of the federation still specialize and mostly, the Chief Medical Officer position is usually held by a general practitioner. While simple surgery is part of their training, some doctors on larger vessels and starbases prefer to have a surgeon on staff.
- Counselor: Because of their training in psychology, technically the ship’s facility’s Counselor is considered part of STARFLEET medical. The Counselor is responsible both for advising the Commanding Officer in dealing with other people and races, and in helping crew members with personal, psychological, and emotional problems.
- Head Nurse: The Head Nurse oversees all the Nurses currently aboard, ensuring they are assigned to task and working as required in their area. Additionally, the Head nurse performs the normal duties of the nurse, assisting the Duty Medical Officer in sick bay.
- Nurse: Nurses are trained in basic medical care and can deal with less serious medical cases. In more serious matters the nurse assists the medical officer in the examination and administration of medical care, be this injecting required drugs, or simply assuring the injured party that they will be ok. The Nurses also maintain the medical wards, overseeing the patients and ensuring they are receiving medication and care as instructed by the Medical Officer.
- Morale Officer: Responsible for keeping the morale of the crew high. Delivers regular reports on morale to the Executive Officer. If any crewmember has problems, the Morale Officer can help them.