Help clear sickbay in preparation for casualties, prepare plasma burn kits and dermal regenerators, monitor comms for damage reports and put together response teams.
And when the trauma you’re expected to deal with is “run a glowy light over any plasma burns and bring anything else to Dr. Crusher,” I think a physical therapist could probably get qualified in a few hours at most.
What about the medical officer or officers in Physical Therapy?
Help clear sickbay in preparation for casualties, prepare plasma burn kits and dermal regenerators, monitor comms for damage reports and put together response teams.
I don’t think physical therapists are qualified to do those things.
Its common to be a trained firefighter in the navy, gear and all, even if your day to day job is postal clerk.
You can 100% train a physical therapist to put together medical kits and organize response teams.
And when the trauma you’re expected to deal with is “run a glowy light over any plasma burns and bring anything else to Dr. Crusher,” I think a physical therapist could probably get qualified in a few hours at most.
Unless the ship’s chiropractor is a private practitioner, they’re all gonna be Starfleet.
Also I’m pretty sure Sickbay is a shelter since there are bound to be people who can’t leave.