Star Trek Has Found Its Most Underrated Chief Medical Officer

Star Trek has at long last found its most underrated Chief Medical Officer, and it won't be the one most immediately suspect.

The Star Trek franchise has been graced with many excellent CMOs, such as McCoy, Bashir or Crusher. They have saved their ships time and again, earning their status as legends. Now, in Star Trek: Lower Decks #1, Doctor T’Ana, the Cerritos’ CMO, takes her place beside them with one awe-inspiring feat.

Dr. T'Ana of Star Trek: Lower Decks Does What Other Medical Officers Can't

Star Trek: Lower Decks #1 (2024)

In the tale from Ryan North and Derek Charm. The issue opens with the Cerritos crew struggling to contain a virulent outbreak aboard the ship. The disease causes purple bumps to appear on the infected body, and can result in death. Captain Freeman asks T’Ana how long until the disease is fatal.

T’Ana scoffs, saying she is not going to let it get fatal, because she intends to cure it first. Doctor T’Ana then makes good on her word, quickly working up a cure and saving the ship.

Star Trek's Oldest War: Chief Medical Officers vs Ship-Wide Infections

The Various Star Trek Crews Have Suffered Many Outbreaks

The entire scene is a parody of the first season Original Series episode “Miri,” which saw the Enterprise crew become infected with a disease similar to the one Cerritos was facing. The disease had ravaged an entire planet centuries prior, and would have done the same to the Enterprise crew if not for Doctor McCoy. McCoy raced against time to find a cure, but not before some crew members fell violently ill. “Miri” was one of several episodes across the franchise where a crew would deal with an outbreak of some sort.

Episodes centered around these outbreaks have been some of the franchise’s best. In the Star Trek: The Next Generation second season episode “Unnatural Selection,” the Enterprise discover a derelict Starfleet vessel. The crew were all dead, every one of them aged prematurely. Investigating further, the Enterprise nearly becomes infected with the same virus. Later, in Deep Space Nine’s first season, in the episode “Babel,” the station was infected by a disease that scrambled a victim’s language processing centers. In each episode, the show’s respective Chief Medical Officer was instrumental in saving the day.

The Chief Medical Officer May Be the Most Important Person On a Starship

Star Trek Has Had Some Great CMOs

On Starfleet vessels, the Chief Medical Officer is one of the most important positions. Crucial to the functioning of a starship or starbase, the CMO helps ensure the well-being of the crew, and this mandate gives them the authority to override a captain’s orders in extreme situations. The various Star Trek shows have featured some of the best CMOs in Starfleet. While not the first Star Trek CMO, Doctor “Bones” McCoy may be the best known. McCoy’s compassionate nature and medical acumen would set the mold on which all other Star Trek CMOs are judged.

There have been other great Chief Medical Officers in the Star Trek franchise. Doctor Beverly Crusher, from Star Trek: The Next Generation, is regarded as one of the best of her era, and was even in charge of Starfleet Medical for a short while. Doctor Julian Bashir, Deep Space Nine’s CMO, was a young Academy graduate when he came to the station. Voyager’s Emergency Medical Hologram, one of Trek’s most fascinating characters, navigates the horrors and wonders of the Delta Quadrant. Other CMOs include Enterprise’s Phlox, Discovery’s Hugh Culber and Lower Decks’ T’Ana.

What Makes Doctor T'Ana The Underrated Star of Star Trek: Lower Decks

Star Trek Has Given T'Ana a Fascinating Backstory

Doctor T’Ana, the CMO of the Cerritos, is one of the more recent additions to the Star Trek mythos. T’Ana is Caitian, a felinoid species introduced in Star Trek: The Animated Series, and her presence is a shout-out to that often overlooked show. As seen in Star Trek: Lower Decks #1, T’Ana is a highly competent physician, but somewhat lacking in bedside manner. The acerbic T’Ana, who swears more than anyone in Starfleet, it seems, is believed by some Star Trek fans to be a parody of Doctor Katherine Pulaski, the Enterprise’s CMO in The Next Generation’s second season.

Lower Decks has given fans fascinating glimpses of T’Ana’s background. Her species waged war against the Betazoids in the distant past–going so far as to eat them. T’Ana is in a relationship with Shaxs, the Cerritos’ tactical officer, and runs a book club on the ship as well. While the Cerritos does not go on as high profile missions as the Enterprise, T’Ana has still seen the ship through some harrowing medical problems, such as a rage virus that swept through the crew in the show’s pilot.

Doctor T'Ana is a Great Star Trek Doctor

Lower Decks' First Issue Proves Why

While the opening sequence of Star Trek: Lower Decks #1 is a parody of a classic franchise trope, it still demonstrates how great a doctor T’Ana is. In “Miri,” the specific episode being parodied, McCoy struggles to find a cure for the disease that was slowly killing them. The episode milked every bit of drama possible out of the situation, and Lower Decks #1 has fun with it, by having T’Ana cure a potentially fatal disease in a number of minutes. The scene keeps with the irreverent (but loving) spirit that is a hallmark of Lower Decks.

Yet the fact the scene is a parody should not detract from Doctor T’Ana’s medical abilities one bit. In “Miri,” Doctor McCoy lacked the resources of the Enterprise’s Sick Bay, but still found a cure. T’Ana had the Cerritos’ medical system at her disposal, which may seem to give her an unfair advantage. However, T’Ana did not waste any time in getting to work finding a cure, and she did so in a timely fashion. T’Ana saved the crew from a horrible death in a short amount of time.

T’Ana finding a cure in record time is also more realistic. By the 24th century, in which Lower Decks takes place, medical science had advanced to the point where diseases that kill millions today, such as cancer, are easily treatable. Add in the combined medical knowledge of the countless species that make up the Star Trek universe, and it becomes unlikely that any bacteria or virus would be able to do any serious harm. If a disease is giving Starfleet physicians a hard time, then it is something truly terrible.

Doctor T'Ana May Not Get the Credit McCoy Does, But She Is Still a Great CMO

T'Ana Is Vastly Underated in the Star Trek Universe

Finally, Doctor T’Ana’s attitude during the issue’s opening scene helps distinguish her as Star Trek’s most underrated Chief Medical Officer. T’Ana takes her job seriously, and is not about to let the Cerritos fall prey to a virus that she can cure easily. There is no grand-standing on T’Ana’s part. There are no heroic poses or cool speeches–T’Ana cuts to the chase and saves the ship. Serving on the Cerritos means Doctor T’Ana may not get the recognition of a Crusher or Bashir, but this issue proves her worth as one of the franchise’s best Chief Medical Officers.