Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Solal Segal (Oncology and Immunology) in Side Sim: Holodeck - A Myriade of Possibilities

Posted by Lieutenant Tija Aizala (Visitor) in Side Sim: Holodeck - A Myriade of Possibilities

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Solal Segal (Oncology and Immunology) in Side Sim: Holodeck - A Myriade of Possibilities
Posted by… suppressed (9) by the Post Ghost! 👻
It had been a couple of days since her meeting with the Chief of Staff and even though she was still on leave and thus not allowed to help in sickbay, Aizala hasn’t been idle. Instead she had spent most of her time researching those medical fields some more she thought might be a good fit for her. But she also knew that reading could only take her so far. For she knew that she needed some hands on experience, if she wanted to make a decision that would make her feel comfortable. Though with being off duty, that left her only one option, really. So it was with all those thought in mind that Aizala found herself in a simulated sickbay on one of the ship’s holodecks, pondering how to go about this best.

~Lt. Tija, Doctor (med leave)

Solal had scheduled his time carefully. This time, there would be no interruptions… unlike the week prior. As he headed down the hall, his thoughts were of what the best use of his time would be.

And then the door opened, and someone - thankfully not Achilleas, again - was already there. Pausing at the entrance, with the doors open, he looked to check his reservation. “Ah, didn’t mean to interrupt,” he said, not recognizing the person on which he had walked. He recognized the looks and sound of a ship sickbay, which to some might’ve been unusual, after all, why on a ship which was nearly one massive sickbay, would one want to emulate another sickbay? But to Solal, the answer was obvious: either drills or practice. Peculiarly, he did not recognize the officer, then again, the Ogawa’s crew was large, and he was not certain he’d made aquaintance with every doctor on board.

~ Lt. Solal, Doctor

Turning around, Aizala looked at Solal; the hint of a smile mixing into her expression of concentration. She instantly noticed that he was a doctor as they were wearing the same uniform. “No need to apologise and you didn’t interrupt anything. Not really,” she replied evenly and with a gesture that took in the whole room she continued, “I going to switch my field of expertise. I already thought about the different options, what caught my interest most in the Academy beside trauma surgery and emergency medicine and I did a fair amount of reading over the past few days. What I’m lacking in order to be able to decide is some practice in each field. Which is why I came here. But I can come back later. I’m not on duty at the moment and can come here any time.”

~Lt. Tija, Doctor (med leave)

Solal shook his head. “No need to reschedule. You’re switching out of emergency medicine?” He asked. He could see why one might switch specialties, though he was currently content with both of his own - immunology, the study of the immune system, and oncology, the study of different cancers and their effects. Both incredibly interesting fields, though he definitely held an interest in emergency medicine and trauma as well.

~ Lt Solal, Doctor

“Yes,” Aizala replied simply, uncertain if she wanted to into any depth why she was going to do that. “There are two, maybe three options I’m considering,” she continued and then counted them with her fingers, “Gynaecology. Pharmacology. And maybe a different surgical field. Though I am … looking for something difference, which is why the surgical fields are probably out.” Brushing one finger absentmindedly across her scar, she fell silent for a short moment; her eyes wandering around sickbay. Her voice low and thoughtful, she then said, “I know I want more than theoretical knowledge before I decided and that I’ll need more training after making the switch. I’m just not sure how I want to go about it. Other than doing some standard exams on holograms, that is.” Looking back at Solal, she added, “If you have any suggestion, I’d be happy to hear them.”

~Lt. Tija, Doctor (med leave)

Solal nodded. Even if she had gone into her reasoning, he likely wouldn’t have cared much. “Pharmacology is quite the field,” he said, “There’s certainly more to it than I’ve looked into. Have you considered neurology?” He suggested, looking to Aizala. That was another field which interested him.

~ Lt Solal, Doctor

“I have,” Aizala nodded. “Though to be quite honest, the classes in neurology I took at the Academy never fully caught my interest. I think it’s one of those fields I wouldn’t mind working in and at the same time it’s nothing I see myself get passionate about. Yet to continue to enjoy my work as a doctor, I think I need that spark. Do you know what I mean?” Since Solal was Vulcan, she wasn’t sure if her reasoning would make sense to her. It was definitely driven more by emotions than by logic. But you never knew.

~Lt. Tija, Doctor (med leave)

Solal looked about as confused as expected, but he was working it out slowly, and then after several moments his face changed as if he’d had an ‘aha!’ moment. “The reason I can’t quite understand, the reason I didn’t stay on earth.” He said. “What… What does make ‘a spark’, then?” It made absolutely no sense to him, but he understood that it meant she had little specialty in pursuing any field that did have ‘a spark’.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

Taking a step backwards, Aizala leaned against one of the biobeds behind her and thought about Solal’s question for a few moments. Eventually she said, “I’m not entirely sure how to explain it. To me it’s … it’s a feeling. When something has a spark thinking about it and doing it makes me happy, even excited. It makes me want to learn all there is to learn about it. Does that make more sense?”

~Lt. Tija, Doctor (med leave)

“Not particularly,” Solal admitted. Perhaps it did, deep down, but he wasn’t prepared to contemplate that idea, and he wasn’t aware of the idea’s presence. He was pretty sure he understood the gist of what Tija was saying. “You haven’t found the field that elicits this emotional response yet.” When it came to humans and emotional responses, Solal had discovered long ago it was easier to go with it than to try and question it, a tactic he used frequently.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

Tilting her head slightly to the side, her brows knitted together, Aizala replied, “I’m not sure. There is a bit of that spark when I think about pharmacology or gynaecology. I think, I just to give both a try. Which of course is why I’m here.” At that she made a small, but all encompassing motion. “I’m a little stuck though on how to proceed from here.” There was a hint of frustration in her voice, but she quickly took a deep breath and pushed those feelings aside as she tried to be gentler with herself.

~Lt. Tija, Doctor (med leave)

“The computer would definitely be able to create a situation pertaining to those fields,” Solal said. “Trying them out holographically is a good idea.” He used the holodeck himself, to practice running emergency drills. It was a good way to keep himself on his toes. He knew pharmacology was the study of medicines and how they would affect a body. And gynaecology the study of women’s health. In pharmacology, he figured a situation could be manufactured in which knowing specific details about medical compounds was critical to the case. And gynaecology could be like family practice but there could also be gynaecological emergencies. It was a wide field.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

“Exactly,” Aizala nodded. “The question is: Do I want to go for a more everyday type of situation or an emergency scenario? Or both? Both fields offer a wide array of possible scenarios. I can’t run a simulation for all of them if I ever want to make a decision. But which ones will be the most helpful in regard to making an informed decision,” she mused.

~Lt. Tija, Doctor (med leave)