History Main / FrontierDoctor

-->I have great respect for those of the medical profession who have taken up their position in the remote districts of Scotland and devote themselves to the healing art under most disadvantageous circumstances. The distances are incredibly long and dangerous in winter: I have in mind an insular doctor who has a great deal to do of midnight boating in glacial weather, and whose bills are often paid not in coin but in ''fleece off a sheep's back''
-->Daniel Turner Holmes, ''Literary Tours in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland''.

-->Daniel Turner Holmes, ''Literary Tours in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland''.

A physician who works in a frontier community.

While the inhabitants of TheWildWest were tougher than case-hardened nails, they still could get hurt and sick. So there was a need for doctors, and the FrontierDoctor came west to fill that need. The frontier doctor needed to be tough and resourceful, since supplies were scarce, and the latest equipment was seldom at hand. He'd often be called upon to travel long distances at any hour of the day or night, and might even treat sick animals if no veterinarian was handy.

With all that said, anyone who'd leave the soft, prosperous life of a doctor in the East had to have a pretty good reason. In fiction, the Frontier Doctor is often flawed. Perhaps he is an alcoholic, or killed a man, or is a WideEyedIdealist who volunteered to come west without thinking it through. Which isn't to say that the characters in a {{Western}} aren't grateful that he's there to patch up their bullet holes and cure their pox.

* Dr. Tex Farzenberg of ''Anime/AfterWarGundamX'': quotes Verlaine, heals the sick, [[{{GetAHoldOfYourselfMan}} administers corrective pugilism when necessary]], uses coffee to settle disputes and secretly practices billiards in the Freeden's game room at night. Truly a RenaissanceMan.

* Don Knotts plays a dental version of one of these in ''{{The Shakiest Gun in the West}}''.

* On the {{Discworld}} witches perform this role in out of the way communties such as Lancre.

* Parodied in a series of ''{{Armstrong and Miller}}'' sketches. "I work in Botswana, saving lives. Do YOU?"

* Dr. Bill Baxter of the obviously-named ''Frontier Doctor'' series.

* Hiram Baker on [[LittleHouseOnThePrairie Little House on the Prairie]]

* ''Did I ever tell you the story about [[{{Cowboy}} Cowboys]]! M-M-midgets, the Indians and, Fron, Frontier Psychiatrist''

* "Doc" Adams of ''{{Gunsmoke}}''. The radio version was actually Dr. Calvin Moore, who'd killed a man in a duel and changed his name to avoid the man's vengeful friends; the television version was Dr. Galen Adams, and did not have such a dark backstory.

[[folder:RealLife]]
* "Doc" Holliday, of RealLife and many, many fictional accounts, was a frontier dentist, but is far better known for his [[TheGambler gambling]] and [[TheGunslinger gunfighting]]. (His consumptive cough apparently tended to scare off clients.)

[[folder:TabletopGames]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]

* In the first episode of ''DeepSpaceNine'', Bashir comments about his new post saying this, and offending Major Kira in the process. (This is her home, and it doesn't seem like a distant frontier to THIS restless native.) On the other hand, he does go about occasionally making house-calls to neighboring planets, (including Bajor a time or two).

* Dr. [=McCoy=] in ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries The Original Series]]'' is perhaps Trek's outstanding example of a [[TheFinalFrontier (Final)]] FrontierDoctor--resourceful in the face of alien ailments, preferring simple homespun methods when possible, but cantankerous, eccentric and not entirely happy with his lot (he fled to space on the heels of a divorce). ''Franchise/StarTrek'' was pretty much [[WagonTrainToTheStars the original]] SpaceWestern, after all, and actor [=DeForest=] Kelley had an extensive background in Westerns.
* Arguably, everyone in a ''{{MASH}}'' unit. Hawkeye preferred calling it 'meatball surgery'.

* ''Did I ever tell you the story about [[{{Cowboy}} Cowboys]]! M-M-midgets, the indians and, Fron, Frontier Psychiatrist''

* "Doc" Holliday, of RealLife and many, many fictional accounts, was a Frontier Dentist, but is far better known for his [[TheGambler gambling]] and [[TheGunslinger gunfighting]]. (His consumptive cough apparently tended to scare off clients.)

* Most any 'healer' PC - such as a Cleric in D&D - in the vast majority of [=RPGs=] will fit the bill, although they often have access to magic in addition to gumption and bandages.

* Dr. Leonard [=McCoy=] in the aptly titled ''Leonard [=McCoy=]: Frontier Doctor''. Set between the original ''StarTrek'' series and ''StarTrekTheMotionPicture'', the series follows a bearded Dr. [=McCoy=] as he works with the Starfleet frontier doctors program.

* Dr. [=McCoy=] in ''[[StarTrekTheOriginalSeries The Original Series]]'' is perhaps Trek's outstanding example of a [[TheFinalFrontier (Final)]] FrontierDoctor--resourceful in the face of alien ailments, preferring simple homespun methods when possible, but cantankerous, eccentric and not entirely happy with his lot (he fled to space on the heels of a divorce). ''StarTrek'' was pretty much [[WagonTrainToTheStars the original]] SpaceWestern, after all, and actor [=DeForest=] Kelley had an extensive background in Westerns.

* In ''Time Enough for Love'', Lazarus Long is living on a frontier planet and has mildly unpleasant dealings with the alcoholic (and only) doctor on the planet.

** Bashir later meets a classmate who took a prestige assignment with a starship, and she complains how boring her own assignment was as opposed to his own (the writers also uses this as a jab against TNG and Voyagers problem of the week episodes compared to the arcs in DS9)
* Dr. [=McCoy=] in [[StarTrekTheOriginalSeries TOS]] is perhaps Trek's outstanding example of a [[TheFinalFrontier (Final)]] FrontierDoctor--resourceful in the face of alien ailments, preferring simple homespun methods when possible, but cantankerous, eccentric and not entirely happy with his lot (he fled to space on the heels of a divorce). StarTrek was pretty much [[WagonTrainToTheStars the original]] SpaceWestern, after all, and actor [=DeForest=] Kelley had an extensive background in Westerns.

* Dr. Tex Farzenberg of ''AfterWarGundamX'': quotes Verlaine, heals the sick, [[{{GetAHoldOfYourselfMan}} administers corrective pugilism when necessary]], uses coffee to settle disputes and secretly practices billiards in the Freeden's game room at night. Truly a RenaissanceMan.
* Partially, ActionGirl and TeamMom Sally Po in ''GundamWing''.

* Dr. Lazarus in ''{{Outland}}''.

* Dr. Michaela Quinn of ''[[DrQuinnMedicineWoman Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman]]''.
* [[{{Firefly}} Simon Tam]] is a Frontier Doctor InSpace, down to having once worked in a HospitalParadiso on [[strike:The East Coast]] a Core World and being driven to the Frontier by a conflict with the law.

* Hiram Baker on [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie Little House on the Prairie]]

* Hiram Baker on [[LittleHouseOnThePrairie Little House on the Prairie]]

* Hiram Baker on [[LittleHouseOnThePrairie]]

* Most of the Diagnosans in ''{{Farscape}}'' tend to occupy this kind of role.

* Dr. Tex Farzenberg of AfterWarGundamX: quotes Verlaine, heals the sick, [[{{GetAHoldOfYourselfMan}} administers corrective pugilism when necessary]], uses coffee to settle disputes and secretly practices billiards in the Freeden's game room at night. Truly a RenaissanceMan.
* Partially, ActionGirl and TeamMom Sally Po in GundamWing.

* Dr. Leonard [=McCoy=] in the aptly titled "Leonard [=McCoy=]: Frontier Doctor". Set between the original StarTrek series and StarTrekTheMotionPicture, the series follows a bearded Dr. [=McCoy=] as he works with the Starfleet frontier doctors program.

* Don Knotts plays a dental version of one of these in ''The Shakiest Gun in the West''.

* Parodied in a series of Armstrong and Miller sketches. "I work in Botswana, saving lives. Do YOU?"

* Dr. Michaela Quinn of ''Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman''.

* In the first episode of DeepSpaceNine, Bashir comments about his new post saying this, and offending Major Kira in the process. (This is her home, and it doesn't seem like a distant frontier to THIS restless native.) On the other hand, he does go about occasionally making house-calls to neighboring planets, (including Bajor a time or two).

--[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8BWBn26bX0 Frontier Psychiatrist]], The Avalanches

* "Doc" Adams of {{Gunsmoke}}. The radio version was actually Dr. Calvin Moore, who'd killed a man in a duel and changed his name to avoid the man's vengeful friends; the television version was Dr. Galen Adams, and did not have such a dark backstory.

[[folder:Literature TV]]

While the inhabitants of TheWildWest were tougher than case-hardened nails, they still could get hurt and sick. So there was a need for doctors, and the FrontierDoctor came west to fill that need. The frontier doctor needed to be tough and resourceful, since supplies were scarce, and the latest equipment was seldom at hand. He'd often be called upon to travel long distances at any hour of the day or night, and might even be called upon to treat sick animals if no veterinarian was handy.

While the inhabitants of TheWildWest were tougher than case-hardened nails, they still could get hurt and sick. So there was a need for doctors, and the FrontierDoctor came west to fill that need. The frontier doctor needed to be tough and resourceful, since supplies were scarce, and the latest equipment was seldom to hand. He'd often be called upon to travel long distances at any hour of the day or night, and might even be called upon to treat sick animals if no veterinarian was handy.

** Bashir later meets a classmate who took a prestige assignment with a starship, and she complains how boring her own assignment was as opposed to his own.

* Most any 'healer' PC - such as a Cleric in D&D - in the vast majority of RPGs will fit the bill, although they often have access to magic in adition to gumption and bandages.

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