"Meeting of Medical Minds"

Posted on Sun Apr 29th, 2018 @ 8:02pm by Lieutenant Commander Marit Lantry M.D., Ph.D. & Commander Talia Varen

Mission: A Day in the Life
Location: CMO's Office, Infirmary, Starbase 332

"Thank you for taking the time to see me, Doctor," Lantry began, holding onto a PADD containing her notes on all of the patient's she'd been helping with in the infirmary. The previous chief medical officer had been open to having Lantry assist when she could, both as a way to keep Lantry's medical skills sharp and is a way for Marit to keep an eye on the mental health needs of the crew. Still, she knew Doctor Varen had a right to set her own policies and she was glad to have this opportunity to speak to her one-on-one.

"Of course Counselor, what exactly did you wish to speak to me about?" she gestured towards the chief's office as she was just getting the second half of her shift started. It had been a busy day, with several cases of Streptococcal pneumonia coming out of the children's creche in one of the civilian population areas.

Marit followed the Chief Medical Officer into her office as directed, then offered her notes, explaining, "I'm not sure if you're aware, but the previous CMO was kind enough to let me keep my medical skills sharp by assisting the medical staff with patients on a regular basis. Not only was it important to me to keep my own skills sharp, but we both agreed it was a good way to keep tabs on the crew's overall mental and physical health. It gave me an opportunity to stay abreast of the medical issues that may be impacting the emotional health of individuals and vice versa. I wanted to keep you informed of those patients I've been working with medically and to see how you felt about the arrangement?"

"Yes I had noticed that." Talia answered with a shake of her head, gesturing to the seat next to her "On a sidenote, I'd like to be informed of anything pressing or dangerous as far as your emotional assessments are concerned. If we're to be a team, we can't just focus only on the one part of the person we're treating. Tell me about the arrangement you had with my predecessor and exactly what it involved, and we'll see if we can accommodate you."

Marit was encouraged the senior physician was open to the arrangement. She had no reason to think she would not be, of course, but as they had not met yet, she hadn't wanted to make assumptions. It seemed that at least in this regard, they were on the same page. "I would absolutely keep you informed of any concerns I had regarding a crew member's mental state. I personally feel an obligation to do that anyway given that, as you said, we are on the same team. As for the specific arrangements, it was simply a matter of putting me on the schedule on a weekly basis and having an agreement that we would come to one another if there were particular concerns. I am not qualified as a surgeon, but I am prepared to assist the ER as well as the family medicine departments. I particularly enjoy working in obstetrics and in women's health, but as I said, I am very flexible. One thing I am particularly passionate about is making sure a counselor is notified when there are injuries that appear to be the result of violent crime or another trauma. In those cases, I find it particularly beneficial to provide psychological support as quickly as possible." She was thinking specifically of the attacks on the Captain and Colonel, but she didn't speak that aloud.

"So we can play, what is the Terran phrase? Hot potato? Yes, hot potato with the patients that need us both." she consulted her log of staff and nodded "I will start you in family medicine as we're still having an outbreak of pneumonia in the promenade. I currently don't have anyone scheduled for Thursday or Friday because the Dr in question has been on sick leave. While antibiotics get rid of the pneumonia quickly enough the effects tend to linger, even now."

The counselor nodded. "That sounds great. That'll give me a chance to catch up with some of the families and meet some of the new arrivals. Pneumonia can be particularly difficult and dangerous for expectant mothers. Are there any patients you're currently concerned about?"

"A few of the patients that were in here when the quarantine started. Some of them have been having nightmares of the deaths." her eyes flickered with guilt. The deaths that she couldn't stop because they had no way to fight the virus as it had been. She felt personally responsible for them all, she should have seen it sooner- the signs that a simple virus had jumped species and wreaked havoc.

"I'll speak with them as soon as possible," Lantry replied. " how are you and the rest of the staff dealing with the losses? I know it can't be easy."

"We often take responsibility in a way that goes beyond what we can be held responsible for..." her voice was quiet and sad as her dark eyed gaze flickered away from the Counselor.

Lantry appreciated Talia's candor. It spoke well of her mental health that she was able to be honest about her own feelings. "I won't waste your time by telling you not to think that. I understand there's a difference between what your brain knows and what your heart feels. I will encourage you to take it easy on yourself while it takes time for your heart to catch up with your head. Maybe that means being honest with your staff about your own feelings so they can feel they have a safe place to talk about their own and you can feel better in turn. Maybe that means doing something you love, or maybe even talking with me again. Whatever you choose, I would just hope it would be something healthy for you."

"I was raised as a Vulcan Counselor, or rather they tried to raise me as a Vulcan. I am quite adept in their techniques though I usually choose not to use them. I am not sure that healthy is quite the right descriptive term." she laughed softly raising her fingers to the scarlet streak in her hair.

Marit smiled, taking note of the streak in the doctor's hair. "Maybe it's more like just not hurtful to your self or others. I suppose I say all of this in a roundabout way just to let you know I'm here if you get tired of handling all of this alone."