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 check ups. 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 aspect of the medical deck, such as the Medical labs, Surgical suites and Dentistry's. 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.

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 Chief in all areas, such as administration, and application of medical care.

Medical Officer undertakes the majority of the work aboard the ship/facility, examining the crew, and administering medical care under the instruction of the Chief Medical Officer and Asst. Chief. Medical Officers also run the other Medical areas not directly overseen by the Chief Medical Officer.

The Head Nurse oversees all the Nurses currently aboard, ensuring they are assigned to task and working as required in there area. Additionally the Head nurse performs the normal duties of the nurse, assisting the Duty Medical Officer in sickbay.

Nurses are trained in basic medical care, and are capable of dealing with less serious medical cases. In more serious matters the nurse assist 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.

Medics are trained in advanced medical care in relation to combat injuries and illnesses. They are assigned to away missions where there is the element of physical danger.

The medics also help maintain the medical wards like nurses, overseeing the patients and ensuring they are receiving medication and care as instructed by the Medical Officer.

Two EMH programs are currently available, the longer term Mark II and the short term Mark I. Developed to act as the Chief Medical Officer as and when required, this program can also be activated to provide additional assistance to the real Chief Medical Officer. The EMH is programmed with all current medical knowledge and has the ability to learn as required. Additionally the EMH can take on any other medical role as required by the ship/facility.