A shipboard corpsman would have more relevant experience, if we are talking about a medic
on a small starship.
How does NASA do it? That's another thing to look at.
Or, maybe a better fit for Traveller, how Age of Sail surgeons worked aboard ships.
As Flykiller said, in most nowdays ships medevac is an option, and even in NASA case (where it is not) radio help (for advice, etc) is. This aside, for NASA, most of the people that goes to space nowdays are hand picked ones, where little health problems (aside th ocasional accident) may be expected (though, even then, some unexpected might happen)
As for Age of Sai ships, in most cases crews were in the order of hundreds, so justifying a full doctor. In most cases, Traveller Player's ships will have a crew under 10 and a handful passengers, IMHO hardly justifying it...
Another thing-- what sorts of illnesses and injuries is the medic expected to deal with on a regular basis?
Is the crew expecting frequent injuries in combat?
Unless the ship is a combat one, I'd say it may expect mostly minor accidents and light illness (aside from the main functions I told about).
But I'd say any respectable merc outfit will want a dedicated field medic.
That would depend on the size of the unit. A battalion will probably have at least 1
st and 2
nd echelons, while a comando squad is likely to have just a corpsman.
See that, at least for ground merc units (where medevac is an option), most combat medics will be more trained in first aid than in medicine. In CT/MT/MgT1E this makes no difference, in T4 first aid skill exists (not sure about other versions).
I know some renowned doctors I wouldn't trust in first aid situations, where they could not ask for lab or imagery tests, not have junior doctors and nurses to help them...
Right, the lack of access to medevac while in Jump-space or in realspace but not very near a starport is something to consider.
That argues for hiring a skilled man.
But consider that even Medic-1 represents a significant amount of training. It's not too shabby at all, particularly given some futuristic tools, drugs, etc.
Certainly adequate for running sick call, patching crewmen up minor accidents, and stabilizing somebody in low berth.
Not necessarly a highly skilled man, but surely someone trained in medicine, not just first aid (the fact they must care for the low berts will also probably make it a legal issue, to have someone
legally trained on their use and monitoring).
Even while out of touch form outside (even to ask for advice by radio), I expect the expert computer programs to have improved from current ones...
Indeed, wouldn't that be one of the main uses of low berth? Stabilize a critically injured or ill person who would otherwise die?
I would not say their main use (at least for non emergency ones), as this would be to carry low passengers (at least in the versions it is more safe, like MT. In CT it's quite risky), but sure will be one of them...
well that's true for a combat medic too. the medic is there for the emergencies.
And are they "the best you can get" or "some cross-trained fill-in" to use your own words?
And again, for ground combat units, those are (IMHO) more likely to be trained in first aid that in medicine, and probably not full dedication to ther medic roles.