Star Trek, as wonderful as it may be, is still Hollywood. Therefore it still works under the Hollywood rule: "Realism is great, just so long as it doesn't ruin the shot." As a result, most of the medical treatment you see on television is nowhere near correct medicine.

Now, Star Trek does take place in the future. By all accounts, they can wave their tricorders, inject a drug, pull a dove from their sleeves, and lo--the patient is saved. It's the future--maybe doves are therapeutic.

But before you, the humble writer, decide to pull an animal from a character's oriface, you should know what you're talking about. You're writing fanfiction, not television. Your medical emergencies don't depend on "a good shot." Your reader is going to expect details, descriptions, and reality. By knowing the very basics of modern medicine, you'll be able to make up believable fanfic.

And believable is what they want.

The following information is only a general overview of medicine today. If your questions aren't answered, check either the Links section for a more complete guide, or email the webmistress (if the question is really interesting, it, and the answer, will be posted in the Q&A section).

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Medical sucks. Trauma is cool.

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Ethics: we have none.

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When life goes to hell, and only you know it.

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