You Learn From Your Rivals Whose Urgence Was Liable

Posted on Tue Dec 7th, 2021 @ 7:02pm by Ships Doctor Hiram Maitland M.D. & Beya

Mission: Mission 14: Holoworld
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD5 1100, follows this post
Tags: Medical training/equipment
1759 words - 3.5 OF Standard Post Measure

"Ms. Beya," Hiram greeted her a couple of days later-it was easy to assume he'd forgotten about his assurance that he'd help her, and they'd been so busy that it hadn't seemed of incredible importance to swing his attention back around to it. Those doubts were quickly quashed as he motioned for her to follow him into his small office-more of a partition than a real separated area, but it had some hanging flowers and potted plants and a few pictures:

An older gentleman in a Starfleet admiral's uniform in front of the sunny Rixx Trade Center on Betazed, arm around a shorter woman with dark features and hair that fell around her shoulders in ringlets. Another photo showcased a group with Hiram, a Vulcan with light hair and tattoos, a human woman wearing a Federation council pin, and about sixteen children in varying expressions from scowling to smiling. Yet another with the Eiffel tower outside a window of a large high-rise hospital waiting area.

It was a tad more sentimental than anyone who knew Hiram would expect him to be, but above all else he endeavored for normalcy-so perhaps not. A few stacks of traditional PADDs sat next to his personal terminal, which was a sleek touch-screen holo interface, and a paired smaller device that glowed embedded in the diagonal strap over his chest of the medical kit he wore almost all the time. Another several smaller glowing touchPADD devices were neatly organized in rows.

"I apologize I haven't gotten around to this sooner," he said to the Orion with a rueful smile. "I did mean what I said, however. Medical school has a rigorous admissions process, and depending on how you want to approach that-most programs are not direct-entry. That means you need an undergraduate degree of some kind, unless you're willing to enter Starfleet Academy. So I've compiled some program lists for you to take a look at. Volunteer opportunities, contacts, and the like." He handed the small touchPADD to her.

"But the big concern is the MCAT. If you're serious about it, you'll need to study. Hard. I'd also like to get an idea of where your skills currently are-you mentioned you received some prior training. Are you familiar with topographical scanners, tricorders, diagnostic relays, vistat monitors-that kind of thing?"

"Believe me I know I know have little chance at medical school with 'no formal education'," Beya quoted the standard rejection letter phrase with a resigned sigh. "As for Starfleet Academy, I'd join if they'd have me, but I'm not a Federation citizen and even if I were, it's very competitive. I doubt I could come up with the kind of bribes to secure the required recommendations to even be considered. But if a high score on the MCAT is way around all the sealed gates, I'll study with everything I'm worth," she stated firmly. "I've used most of that equipment. Some I can even take apart and fix - a lot of merchant ships cheap out on medical equipment or get secondhand items, so that was one of the first things old Garnac taught me. But for the same reason, I'm probably weak on the most modern versions."

"Being a Federation citizen is something you can work around," Hiram told her. "It requires some fairly stellar extracurriculars, letters of recommendation and a sponsor, but I can help you with all of that. A good score on the MCAT will increase your chances significantly," he promised with a nod. "I can help you there, too, but it requires dedication. The MCAT is a six hour test that ranges from science and mathematics to verbal reasoning and logic. Preparation is vital, but fortunately there are many resources out there that can de-mystify the process. In the interim, I'd like to keep you up on your training. I assume you're an EMT-PXE right now?" It was a xenomedicine-certified paramedic. "If not, we can bump your certifications up, too." It was more tests and more studying, but it was something Hiram could conduct on the Rosie, remotely.

Beya felt her heart sink at 'letters of recommendation and a sponsor' - literally the same problem she had just articulated - but rise hopefully at the suggestion Dr. Maitland could line up the letters and sponsor. Given her background, she was very well aware that who you know could get better results than how much bribe can you afford. That left 'stellar extracurriculars' - an odd phrase given that she had no formal curriculars against which to measure extras. "I have gotten EMT-PXE cert. Honestly, I've tried to pick up every certification I can so I'm better positioned to get medical slots on ships," Beya explained. "I'm also certified as a nursing assistant, physical therapy aide, and massage therapist if that helps. And I don't have any official documentation, but I've been assisting with surgeries since I started working on my uncle's ship nine years ago. Does any of that count as extracurriculars?"

"Certainly yes," Hiram nodded. "If you have any records of employment or can obtain character references from those you've assisted, that can bolster your packet. ECs also require volunteering and shadowing, typically with another physician, which it sounds like you've had some experience with and I can contribute to that as well. Your current certifications are a bonus-and they're beneficial aboard the Rosie right now. You're what we'd call a non-traditional student." His features did an odd little flip before he decided to share-in quite a surface manner as was typical of his nature, "as was I. Being non-trad is not the death-knell, and I'm confident I can put you in touch with people who will advocate for you, if you can demonstrate dedication. Provided you perform to expectation in my presence, I'll be more than happy to quantify your contributions on board as well. It is long, and hard, and exhausting, but it is do-able. "

The assurance that a non-traditional route could still be viable buoyed Beya's spirits, but it ran up against an ingrained cynicism at the repetition of 'if you can demonstrate dedication' - hadn't leaving home at 14 to pursue whatever medical training she could demonstrated commitment to her goal? Unless 'demonstrate dedication' meant something else, a thought all but confirmed from her Orion perspective by the next words: 'Provided you perform to expectation in my presence'. She wasn't upset. Disappointed perhaps, but not disconcerted. She was Orion after all - she knew how these things worked - and while Maitland wasn't exactly her type, he wasn't old and fat, or a grubby little Ferengi, so it was fine. She might have been away from home for nearly half her life now, but her outlook was thoroughly Orion enough to think it might even be fun. "Long and hard and exhausting, eh?" she grinned at him, giving a coy wink. "I think that's entirely 'do-able'."

Hiram stared at her for several long moments, parsing her comments, before blinking and nodding in acknowledgment. "Medically," he clarified. "I'm unfamiliar with you, and your skills, and your work ethic. I mean to observe you, in the field, and if you are amenable, within tutoring sessions to ensure your practical skills match the training experience you've had prior." He offered a smile, slight. "The Federation places value in applied skills, so that is what I will be looking out for, and I'll attempt to guide you as best as I can for whichever gaps may exist. Does that make sense?"

Beya's head tipped to the side a moment, parsing that. 'Skills', 'work ethic', 'observe you' - she'd heard all of those used with double meaning multiple times. Honestly 'tutoring sessions' and references to practical skills and guiding her had meant largely what she'd initially suspected on more than a few occasions, but those had been when she was much younger and still working in her mother's lounge. It seemed pretty unlikely that any human could offer pointers to an Orion her age in that area, so maybe the doctor really meant in a strictly medical sense... Given most of her past experiences, it was still little hard to believe, but so far this ship had been different, and Maitland seemed kind of awkward about the whole idea, so maybe...

"I think so," she said finally. "Forgive me if I misinterpreted. I ...don't often get offers of help without expectation of something in return."

"I do expect something in return," Hiram corrected her, but it wasn't predatory-nor with the leer that she'd typically expected from those in superior positions above her, like a test she couldn't quite parse the answers to. He continued promptly, not desiring to play mind-games, either. "I expect that you will apply yourself to the utmost of your abilities. I expect that you will take your medical training seriously, and that you will pursue the goals you have laid out for yourself."

"So you expect in return what I'd do anyway...?" The puzzled 'what am I missing here?' in her tone was unmistakable. Beya had been trained to read people as it was considered an essential survival skill back home, but something about this person made that difficult, like trying to decode a message through static.

"If that is what you would do anyway, then yes," Hiram returns, smiling again. It's curated, and entirely purposeful, his words professional and calm. A difficult measure to parse, even for those who were trained in extensive non-verbal analysis. Hiram was stasis, a nothing-place. "To be clear," he adds, not desiring any ambiguity, "I do not have any expectations of you that fall outside the role of your duties as a medic aboard this vessel."

"Yes, doctor," Beya replied brightly, relieved to have that spelled out. Perhaps she should have felt insulted at the assumption that she wouldn't apply herself, but she was so used to being underestimated or assumed to be a party girl because of the green skin that it hardly even occurred to her that it was anything but just the way men thought. "So then, where shall I start?"

"Let's see how well you do with deconstructing this, and naming its component parts," he said, intending to get a more in-depth look at where her skills currently where, which would help in teaching her useful things and so that he was employing her where she would be valuable and not keeping her on the sidelines.