History Main / OpenHeartDentistry

* ''VideoGame/TraumaCenter'':

** In ''Trauma Team'', Naomi indulges a child into taking a cat in for what she thinks is a "simple" endoscopy. [[spoiler: Nope, the cat's infected with the Rosalia virus]].

* Inverted on January 5, 2024, when Fort Worth Zoo in Texas, USA, [[https://www.fortworthzoo.org/premature-gorilla announced that they had a new addition]]: a newborn, premature gorilla baby that had been delivered via C-section by a ''human'' OB-GYN. Rather than the ClosestThingWeGot, the zoo's website explained that the veterinarians on staff frequently consult with human doctors on primate cases due to the similar physiology between giant apes and humans. In this case, zookeepers and veterinarians at the zoo consulted with Dr. Jamie Erwin when Sekani, a 33-year-old pregnant gorilla, was showing signs of pre-eclampsia, a potentially fatal condition of pregnancy. The diagnosis was confirmed, and the baby was delivered several weeks early by Dr. Erwin and a staff that included her own team and veterinarian staff. Dr. Erwin is quoted as saying this experience was "one of the highlights of my entire career as an OB-GYN."

* In the ''Series/LawAndOrder'' episode "Over Here" a badly-wounded man stumbles into a Veterinary Clinic; he was either too wounded to realize what it was or too desperate to care. The staff did what they could with supplies for treating large dogs, but he died before an ambulance arrived to take him to the ''human'' doctors. The doctor who treated him is able to give the detectives an estimate of his injuries, as he has "x-ray hands" due to treating patients that can't talk. TruthInTelevision, as vets in most states are legally permitted and morally obliged to help injured humans until someone better qualified to treat people can take over.

** In situations where they were especially shorthanded or overloaded, head nurse Margaret Houlihan occasionally performed some of the less complicated surgical procedures, like closing a patient after surgery. In later seasons, it became more common for the nurses to handle procedures of this type so that the doctors could focus on the more difficult procedures, allowing them to move the wounded through more quickly.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Parodied on ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun''. Vicki repeatedly mistakes Dr. Albright for a medical doctor, despite Mary's insistence that her doctorate is in anthropology. When Vicki gets pregnant, she asks Albright to deliver the baby; after Mary again tries to explain that she's not that kind of doctor, Vicki assumes that Mary is just being snooty.

* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}},'' [[TheHeart Cassie's]] amateur veterinary skills are sometimes brought up for this, such as when Elfangor crashed on Earth. (Of course, who's to say a human doctor would know how to handle an alien injury either?) Still, when she was actually forced to operate on [[TokenNonHuman Ax]] she only managed with help from [[PuppeteerParasite Aftran]], who accessed Ax's own memories to figure out what to do.

* In the Literature/CiaphasCain novel ''Death or Glory'', the chief medical officer of the scratch company Cain forms from the scattered remnants of various Guard units, PDF units, and street gangs was a vet. He was the only medically trained person they could find. Cain himself remarked that the Vet is trained in "All animals. Big or small." This would later become the title of the Vet's autobiography recapping the events of the campaign.
* On the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' people who actually know what they're doing don't go to a doctor for major medical problems, they go to a vet. The logic is thus: If a doctor isn't good, they usually just have a dead patient. But if a vet isn't good, they usually have a rich, furious, mafioso racing horse owner with [[{{Mooks}} lots of hired muscle]] [[YouHaveFailedMe and little patience]] (or worse, if the mafioso in question is [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Chrysophrase the troll]]) to deal with. Hence why horse vet "Doughnut Jimmy" Folsom is regarded as one of the best doctors in the city, despite his tendency to act as if all of his patients are horses, regardless of their actual species. Later in the continuity, they start going to [[TheIgor Igors]]. When someone is trained to stitch together dead body parts into living monsters, stitching someone's lost arm back onto the body it belongs to is much, much easier.
** Later still, in ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}', Vimes trusts Dr John 'Mossy' Lawn, who is a pox doctor (that is, someone who treats... ladies of negotiable affection... for the infections they contract whilst... negotiating...) with the lives of his wife and unborn child during labour, when the delivery starts going badly and the midwife is out of her depth. It's implied that Dr. Lawn had similar attitudes to Ignaz Semmelweis when it came to childbed fever.
** Although a doctor who specializes in treating... seamstresses ''would'' have ample practice in both pregnancy and the resulting affliction that happens after it, though apparently, this is less of a problem than you might think.
*** Because Vimes is a very rich man when this occurs, he rewards Dr. Lawn by helping him set up a free public hospital. Subsequent books imply that the influence of the institution have downplayed this trope over time.

* Shows up in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' story "The Warrior" and after: [[spoiler: Waldo Butters]] acts as Harry's physician--and it's stated that he's done this a number of times already. Harry, like most wizards, is enough of a WalkingTechbane that his presence in a proper hospital would endanger the other patients. Unlike most of the examples on this list, [[spoiler: Butters]] is a fully trained and accredited doctor. However, he works in the morgue and finds working with the dead less stressful.
* Creator/JamesHerriot:
** In one of his books, Herriot recounted advising a farmer on handling his back problems, and that the farmer seemed to take the vet more seriously than the people doctor. On the other hand, Herriot's advice (for the farmer to stop doing the hand milking of his cows and let others do it) was actually a roundabout way to treat the actual patients -- a number of cows showing symptoms of minor injuries from overly energetic hand milking (by the farmer with the back problem).
** Particularly ironic as Herriot often was frustrated by the tendencies of such farmers to trust knacker men, unqualified quacks, local know-alls, and above all each other for veterinary advice far more than they ever trusted him (probably because his prognosis would be cautiously realistic, whereas the amateur would usually promise a miracle... and by sheer luck may sometimes get one...).
** This cut both ways. The bereaved owner of a recently dead pet -- a caged bird, in fact -- chose to ask Herriot, rather than the local vicar or priest, whether animals have souls and go to Heaven after death (he said his view was they'd all go to the same place). Contrast this to Father Neil da Souza's experience, elsewhere in this section.
** Once, while serving as the attending veterinarian for a race track, he was called out to help a man who'd scraped his knee after slipping going down the stairs. He mentally joked over the experience.

* Justified in the ''Literature/LegendsOfLaconia'' series, because Dr. Nat Silver is a FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire who uses his extended lifespan to attend different medical schools over the years and become fully accredited in multiple disciplines.
** In one of the stories posted online but not yet professionally published, there is a {{Subversion}} when someone gets a gunshot wound and he wails that he is a general practitioner, vet, psychiatrist, obstetrician, dentist, and plastic surgeon, but ''not'' a trauma surgeon!

* Also subverted in another Creator/StephenKing novel, ''Literature/TheRegulators'', where a woman's arm is torn off by a gunshot. Tom Billingsley, a vet, tries to treat her, but she soon dies. Billingsley remarks that she needed a trauma unit, not "an old veterinarian with shaky hands".
* Subverted in ''Literature/TheStand'' when one of the merry band of travelers tries to perform an emergency appendectomy and the patient dies. None of the folks in the group are dentists or vets, but one of the group [[NotThatKindOfDoctor holds a Ph.D. In anthropology.]]
** Later the Boulder Free Zone's "doctor" points out that he's just a vet, and the town needs someone with real human medicine experience. When an elderly M.D. arrives, he immediately sets about training the vet in human doctoring, noting that despite surviving the pandemic, he will not be around long and the vet (and a recently arrived nurse) is the best hope they have for the future.
* In ''Literature/JurassicPark'', Chief Vet Gerry Harding is the closest thing they have to a doctor after Malcolm is mauled by the T. Rex. Despite being one of the best bird doctors and ''the'' best dinosaur doctor in the world, the most he's able to do is give Malcolm morphine and try and keep the wounds clean and closed; and he outright says Malcolm will die if he can't be evacuated within a day. Presumably he's also the one treating Malcolm in the movie, where he does a much better job.

* On ''Series/{{Lost}}'', Jack's appendix is successfully removed by Juliet, a fertility researcher, and Bernard, a dentist. The show attempted to justify this trope by having Juliet say that she'd performed a lot of appendectomies during her residency. Also, during Jack's operation, Bernard seemed mostly in charge of giving Juliet tools and applying Jack's anesthesia. As a dentist, Bernard would plausibly have more experience with that latter job than most other doctors who aren't surgeons.

* On ''Series/{{MASH}}'':

* Used on the ''Series/OneStepBeyond1959'' episode "Brainwave", when a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII ship captain gets a shrapnel wound in the neck, and the only medically-trained crewman available is a pharmacist's mate. He's talked through the procedure via radio by a doctor from another ship, [[spoiler: who gets killed mid-operation when his own ship is hit. Yet his voice continues issuing instructions that guide the mate through a successful extraction and closure: instructions so precise, it's clear before TheReveal that ''something'' supernatural is happening because he can evidently '''see''' the operation in progress.]]

* From the ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "Dead Man Switch":

'''Daniel:''' [[NotThatKindOfDoctor ... of archaeology.]]

** Dr. Phlox on ''Enterprise'' also gave Captain Archer's beagle regular check-ups. Justified because Phlox used lots of animals as a source for curative substances, so presumably learned how to properly care for and treat them, too.
* Subverted on ''Series/{{Superstore}}'', when Cheyenne has to give birth in the store, the pharmacist Tate heroically walks in and asks if she's on any drugs for the birth...and then walks out, saying that as a pharmacist, that's all he's really licensed to do.
* Justified in ''Series/TeenWolf'': Deaton, the town veterinarian, is secretly the doctor to all the supernatural creatures (mostly were-creatures) in Beacon Hills. He'll treat more human injuries in a pinch, but the characters go to him for anything more supernaturally based.
** Later on, the one who handles more mundane injuries for the group is Melissa, a registered nurse. Reinforcing this trope is the fact that she's often pressed into performing advanced triage and emergency care because no actual clinical physician would ever believe just ''how'' the bestial injuries being treated came to exist.
* Parodied on ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun''. Vicki repeatedly mistakes Dr. Albright for a medical doctor, despite Mary's insistence that her doctorate is in anthropology. When Vicki gets pregnant, she asks Albright to deliver the baby; after Mary again tries to explain that she's not that kind of doctor, Vicki assumes that Mary is just being snooty.

* One episode of ''Series/VengeanceUnlimited'' had Mr. Chapel getting shot. He had K.C. call a vet that owed him a favor. The vet protested but you don't say no to Mr. Chapel.
* Justified on ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' after Carl is shot in a hunting accident and Hershel (a retired vet) was the only person they knew to have medical experience that was still alive in the middle of a ZombieApocalypse. He even explains that there's no guarantee of success, but he'll do the best he can. He manages to save Carl once they've retrieved some medical equipment. Bonus points because a key skill common to veterinarians is ''not getting bitten by patients'', which is otherwise a major problem in the genre.

* In ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Agua Mala", Scully (a pathologist) delivers a baby and states she has not done so before. She also winds up doing a fair amount of emergency medicine, largely on Mulder.

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'': Milo Krook, a ''mechanic'', ended up being the only one who saw that Ashton didn't immediately die after [[spoiler:getting thrown out of a fifth-story window during a burglary gone wrong]], and had to patch him up before he ''would'' die of his injuries. The only reason they even knew where to start is because Ashton's body is [[SiliconBasedLife mostly made of rock and crystal]], allowing them to mend the wounds with molten gold and slag glass. Ashton survived (though barely), but the injury and makeshift patch job left him with memory problems, blindness in one eye, and severe chronic pain.

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'': Milo Krook, a ''mechanic'', ended up being the only one who saw that Ashton didn't immediately die after [[spoiler:getting thrown out of a window during a burglary gone wrong]], and had to patch him up before he ''would'' die of his injuries. The only reason they even knew where to start is because Ashton's body is [[SiliconBasedLife mostly made of rock and crystal]], allowing them to mend the wounds with molten gold and slag glass. Ashton survived (though barely), but the injury and makeshift patch job left him with memory problems, blindness in one eye, and severe chronic pain.

* Downplayed in the Creator/TomClancy novel ''Literature/PatriotGames'': Irish terrorists attack and shoot up a ferry in the English Channel, leaving it adrift with no radios and five wounded passengers aboard. The only doctor on board is is a veterinarian, who tends to the wounded with the help of a ferry crew member. By the time a Royal Navy flight surgeon arrives, one of the wounded has died from the injury. It's clear that the vet did his best, but he was ''way'' out of his depth, and the care he provided the wounded was little better than what an emergency-trained civilian might have done.

** A Halloween episode involved the victim going to his neighbor with a gunshot wound and bleeding badly. His neighbor was a pediatrician.
** In a less-believable example, medical examiners Ducky and Jimmy had to perform emergency surgery on a German Shepherd dog with serious internal bleeding. Jimmy spent a summer as a veterinary technician, but that's a ''LONG'' way from being able to perform complex surgery like finding and removing a foreign body in a dog's stomach.

* Used on the ''Series/OneStepBeyond'' episode "Brainwave", when a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII ship captain gets a shrapnel wound in the neck, and the only medically-trained crewman available is a pharmacist's mate. He's talked through the procedure via radio by a doctor from another ship, [[spoiler: who gets killed mid-operation when his own ship is hit. Yet his voice continues issuing instructions that guide the mate through a successful extraction and closure: instructions so precise, it's clear before TheReveal that ''something'' supernatural is happening because he can evidently '''see''' the operation in progress.]]

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout North Hollywood Shootout]]: A couple of heavily-armed robbers wearing full kevlar shot up a bank and with the police officers trying to take a hold of the situation, one wounded officer ended up taking refuge in a dentist's office. All the dentist could do was stop the bleeding as best he could and offer painkillers, but this did end up saving the officer's life.

->'''Dr. Loboto:''' Little boy, I am sorry to say that you have a serious mental problem. The trouble originates in THIS area, here; the area that we in the medical profession like to refer to as ''"THE BRAIN"!'' You see, son, it's just no good! I hate to be so blunt, but YOU have the '''INSANITY!''' of a '''''MANATEE!'''''
->'''Dogen:''' I know. People are always saying that... What do you think's wrong with my brain, doctor?\\

->'''Dogen:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint But my teeth are fine!]]
->'''Dr. Loboto:''' Yep, that brain has to come out! It's the quickest way to cure what you have: '''INSANITY OF THE''' '''''MIND!'''''
->'''Dogen:''' But I don't wanna-
->'''Dr. Loboto:''' Shush-shush-shush-shush-shushieee! Now, hold still! This will only hurt until your brains come flying out!

* In ''Series/TheUnusuals'' Delahoy coerces a medical examiner, despite her protests over doing tests on him for his tumor.

* Justified on ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' after Carl is shot in a hunting accident and Hershel (a retired vet) was the person they knew to have medical experience that was still alive in the middle of a ZombieApocalypse. He even explains that there's no guarantee of success, but he'll do the best he can. He manages to save Carl once they've retrieved some medical equipment. Bonus points because a key skill common to veterinarians is ''not getting bitten by patients'', which is otherwise a major problem in the genre.

* ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'': New York cops are legendary for having seen just about everything and for being able to cope with just about anything. Until Sergeant Robert Barone tries to take charge of his sister-in-law's pregnancy scare and attempts to run her into hospital. He succeeds in getting stuck in a traffic jam on Queensboro Bridge and, faced with delivering Debra's baby, flounders terribly. Ray is of no help. Fortunately for Sergeant Barone, who panics completely, it's a false alarm.

* In ''Film/Heist2015'', Dante is wounded during the casino heist. On the bus, Cox calls out for anyone with any kind of medical training. The [[ClosestThingWegot closest thing on the bus]] is a veterinary student.

* In ''ComicBook/HackSlash'', Cassie and Vlad usually go to their friend Lisa -- who is a veterinary -- to get patched up. In her defense, Lisa usually comments that she is not qualified to work on humans, but Cassie and Vlad prefer not to have their injuries treated in hospital.

* The Adult Swim game series ''Videogame/AmateurSurgeon'', being a twisted parody of Trauma Center revolves around this. In the first game, Alan Probe is a humble pizza delivery boy who discovers an incredible knack for surgery -- but since he's not an actual doctor he has to practice in his van or apartment and merely improvise his surgical tools. The sequel features a half-senile 70-year-old Probe called back in the saddle.

->'''Dogen:''' What do you think's wrong with my brain, doctor?\\

'''Dr. Loboto:''' How should I know? I'm a dentist! But here's what I do know: if the tooth is bad, we pull it!

* In the Creator/TomClancy novel ''Literature/PatriotGames'', Irish terrorists shoot up ferry in the English Channel. leaving it adrift, with no radios, and five wounded passengers. The only medical help immediately available is a veterinarian, who tends to the wounded with the help of a ferry crew member. By the time a Royal Navy flight surgeon arrives, one of the wounded has died from the injury.

* In the ''Series/{{Emergency}}'' has had this situation more than once:

** On a later episode, the paramedics are on an isolated island with the one bridge out and thus they are the medical staff around except for one doctor, who is a psychiatrist. With radio contact with Rampart Hospital, she still proves an asset under the circumstances until Dr. Morton can be flown in to take over.

* An ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' Halloween episode involved the victim going to his neighbor with a gunshot wound and bleeding badly. His neighbor was a pediatrician.

* ''Manga/FrankenFran'' will stitch together any "patient", whether a human, an animal, some weird hybrid or a 40-meter giant that forced her to use a two-handed surgical knife.

* ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'': After one of the Count's invention turns some of the inhabitants of Champignac [[BlackLikeMe black]], the mayor refuses to call in a doctor, fearing what's happening might leak out. So instead he has one of the victims examined by a [[TheAlcoholic former]] vet who happens to be at hand. The only thing he can contribute is that the victim has a shiny coat, which is a good sign.

* In ''FanFic/ConversationsWithACryptid'', Recovery Girl's hero license only allows her to give first aid on crime scenes. Despite that she practices [[LongList surgery, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, physiotherapy, sports medicine, pediatric medicine and general practice,]] all without licenses or schooling for any of them. Subverted that it's implied that Izuku's crippled right arm is due to her and several students died due to improper medical treatment.

* In ''Film/Heist2015'', Dante is wounded during the casino heist. On the bus, Cox calls out for anyone with any kind of medical training. The [[ClosestThingWegot closest thing on the bus]] is veterinary student.

* Kate Brewster in ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' was a veterinarian. By ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'', she had become a doctor. Since most of the world was destroyed at Judgment Day, it's highly unlikely she got to attend medical school, so she probably got promoted to doctor based on her veterinary skills.

* In ''Film/TomorrowWhenTheWarBegan'', Lee's leg is wounded while on a recon trip into town, and his leg is fixed up by the local dentist. [[DrJerk He's pretty abrasive]] and jumpy, but considering the risk he's taking by helping it's probably justified.

* In ''Literature/TheDragonKnight'' series, James, a man from the late 20th century, has had to use his limited 20th century medical knowledge to help deal with 14th century medical issues. Luckily, this tends to consist of fairly simple things like ''clean'' bandages, making sure that helpers ''wash'' their hands with soap, plus some general 20th century medical info, like antibiotics and means of cleaning wounds, that he could easily use. Later, he's able to use his magic to assist in healing wounds and doing blood transfusions.

** Particularly ironic as Herriot often was frustrated by the tendencies of such farmers to trust knacker men, unqualified quacks, local know-alls and above all each other for veterinary advice far more than they ever trusted him (probably because his prognosis would be cautiously realistic, whereas the amateur would usually promise a miracle... and by sheer luck may sometimes get one...).

* ''Series/ThirtyRock'': [[MadDoctor "Dr."]] [[BackAlleyDoctor Leo Spaceman]] tend to handle whatever the plot requires. He's actually listed under three different entries in the Writer's Guild health manual (fertility, meth addiction and child psychiatry). He's not particuarly competent at anything, though.

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': On his first day in Albuquerque, Mike goes to a vet for treatment of the bullet wound that he sustained while [[spoiler: avenging his son's death against two corrupt cops]] before he left Philadelphia. The vet, Dr. Caldera, is not only a clandestine doctor for those who have no other recourse, but also a middleman between various types of criminals who helps Mike get his first jobs in Albuquerque's criminal underworld.

** Later on, the one who handles more mundane injuries for the group is Melissa, a registered nurse. Reinforcing this trope is the fact that she's often pressed into performing advanced triage and emergency care, because no actual clinical physician would ever believe just ''how'' the bestial injuries being treated came to exist.

* In ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Agua Mala", Scully (a pathologist) delivers a baby, and states she has not done so before. She also winds up doing a fair amount of emergency medicine, largely on Mulder.

** Despite the fact that Mordin Solus is a [[NotThatKindOfDoctor doctorate]] in genetics and biochemistry he still runs a clinic in [[WretchedHive Omega]]. Justified by the fact that his assistants are more or less medically trained and his knowledge about BizarreAlienBiology is a vital part of what keeps the clinic up and running. (Not to mention that he also occasionally [[BadassBookworm shoots the mercs that try to disturb the clinic's work]]).

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', Billy Quizboy, a neurogeneticist, is frequently called upon to do surgery on something other than the brain, although in a season 4 episode he actually gets to do that. Previously he operated on Dean's testicles and sewed one man's head onto another man's shoulders, and claims to have grafted the head of a horse onto the torso of a well-known celebrity.

** Even veterinary technicians (the veterinary equivalent of a nurse[[note]]although unlike human nurses, they are also expected to be phlebotomists, surgery assistants, laboratory technicians, X-ray technicians, receptionists, grief counselors, and chefs, among other roles... they wear many hats[[/note]], and called "veterinary nurses" outside the States) are required to be able to handle surface sutures. (Technically speaking, they are not allowed to stitch up anything below skin level. Guess how often this gets ignored.)

** Another popular joke among vets: a MD is a vet that only knows how to take care of one species.

* When a person needs someone with more-than-basic knowledge of surgery, but no surgeon is available on hand, a surprisingly good substitute is a ''gynaecologist''. Almost all are obstetricians[[note]]obstetrics deals with pregnancy, labor and post-labor period[[/note]] as well, and they need some extensive surgery skills and knowledge -- part of their job is, after all, performing a Caesarean section, and many perform hysterectomies as well. A gynecologist with enough experience treating endometriosis cases could easily be better at pelvic-organ surgery than many colo-rectal or urological surgeons.
* The Syrian Civil War has had so many doctors and surgeons killed or flee the country due to the regime's repeated attacks on hospitals that numerous veterinarians and dentists have been pressed into duty performing surgery on people injured in the violence.

* ''Literature/MassEffectAnnihilation'': Yorrick the elcor tries pointing out from the off that he's an elcor ear nose and throat doctor, not a trained mortician / virologist. It's pointed out right back he's the closest thing they can manage in the situation (since they can't risk waking up anyone else). He does a remarkable job, all the same. [[spoiler:Until he catches the virus, which eventually kills him.]]

[[folder: Fan Works]]

* Parodied in the second instalment of the ''Fanfic/SupperSmashBrosMishonhFromGod'' trilogy, where ''VideoGame/DrMario'' is shown helping [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1 Fiora]] give birth in his operating theatre. While Dr. Mario’s qualifications aren’t touched upon in his home games, his usage of pills implies him to be a chemist. Notable for being a case with three different types of doctors being ([[StylisticSuck intentionally]]) mixed up in one fell swoop.

* In the ''{{Franchise/Firefly}}'' fic ''[[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/8043687/1/shut-our-exhausted-eyes Shut Our Exhausted Eyes]]'' Simon has to do a root canal on Mal. Mal can’t exactly go to a dentist and though Simon is a surgeon rather than a dentist, he had read up on the procedure and seen it done and since Mal was actually allowing the help without his usual grumbling, Simon knows it’s gotta be bad. The author throws in a handwave of future medical tech being better than today’s, and Simon being glad Serenity’s med bay is at least decently equipped, and he’s able to get it done without trouble.

[[folder: Roleplay]]

* In ''ComicBook/HackSlash'', Cassie and Vlad usually go to their friend Lisa - who is a veterinary - to get patched up. In her defense, Lisa usually comments that she is not qualified to work on humans, but Cassie and Vlad prefer not to have their injuries treated in hospital.

-->'''Barry:''' I wanted to ask you something because you're a doctor. I don't like myself sometimes. Can you help me?
-->'''Walter:''' Barry -- I'm a dentist.

* In the final episode of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', Daphne's baby is delivered by a nurse who happens to be waiting at the same veterinarian's office. Nobody even suggests that Niles (who must have a medical degree if he is practicing as a psychiatrist) might be a better choice. [[note]] In an earlier episode, Niles and Frasier attempt to deliver a baby, being the only doctors of any sort on hand for the emergency, and fail miserably. It is revealed of Niles that he only opted to specialise in psychiatry after he realised that surgery and the sight of blood made him very queasy indeed.[[/note]]

* The Adult Swim game series ''Videogame/AmateurSurgeon'', being a twisted parody of Trauma Center revolves around this. In the first game, Alan Probe is a humble pizza delivery boy who discovers an incredible knack for surgery - but since he's not an actual doctor he has to practice in his van or apartment and merely improvise his surgical tools. The sequel features a half-senile 70-year-old Probe called back in the saddle.

** Justified, though - the Doc had numerous clones made of him in college, each of them mastering a different field. And then they re-amalgamated, to make the doc. He is now an expert in every field except agriculture.
* In the webtoon ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}'' when {{The Big Guy}}, Viktor, gets injured in a fight Ivy calls the local horse doctor for help.

--->'''Booster Gold:''' Maybe you should handle this.
--->'''Dr. Simmons:''' Why me?
--->'''Booster Gold:''' You're a doctor.
--->'''Dr. Simmons:''' I'm a physicist!
--->'''Booster Gold:''' Yeah?

-->'''Doctor:''' He's a dragon.
-->'''Twilight:''' That's not the problem! He's always been a dragon.
-->'''Doctor:''' Oh! Well, that would explain it.

* Veterinarians are a somewhat odd case: they are fully trained medical professionals who are well-versed in anatomy and experienced in providing medical care to animals - of which humans are a subtype. Becoming a veterinarian is actually more difficult than becoming an M.D., leading to the frequent joke amongst both vets and M.D.s, "What do you call someone who doesn't get into veterinary school? [[TakeThat A doctor.]]" Of course, the fact that pre-vet and pre-med programs are frequently very similar makes this TruthInTelevision. Lacking an actual MD, a veterinarian is the next best bet, and depending on their specialty may even be capable of administering medical care up to and including major surgery. On the other hand, they are unlikely to be versed in specific ''human'' medical disorders.
** Even veterinary technicians (the veterinary equivalent of a nurse[[note]]although unlike human nurses, they are also expected to be phlebotomists, surgery assistants, laboratory technicians, x-ray technicians, receptionists, grief counselors, and chefs, among other roles... they wear many hats[[/note]], and called "veterinary nurses" outside the States) are required to be able to handle surface sutures. (Technically speaking, they are not allowed to stitch up anything below skin level. Guess how often this gets ignored.)

* On Discovery Health's ''Series/UntoldStoriesOfTheER'', one episode featured a med student with a background in biochemistry and pharmacology who ended up delivering a baby - rather, watching in shock while a nurse delivered the baby. A family with the mother in labor walks into the wrong section of the hospital, where the med student is, and the instructor orders him to help the woman. He had been a resident for 4 days and didn't even know where the emergency room was.

* Tom Reynolds, EMT for the London Ambulance Service and author of the popular blog "Random Acts of Reality" [[note]]And occasional Troper; Hi, Tom![[/note]], once ended up giving emergency treatment to a cat that a firefighter had found outside a burning house. Nobody else being injured at the scene, they were allowed to drop the cat off at an emergency out-of-hours vet and it made a full recovery. It also apparently made the inside of the ambulance smell of wet, smoky cat poo, but that's by the by.

* When a person needs someone with more-than-basic knowledge of surgery, but no surgeon is available on hand, a surprisingly good substitute is a ''gynaecologist''. Almost all are obstetricians [[note]]obstetrics deals with pregnancy, labor and post-labor period[[/note]] as well, and they need some extensive surgery skills and knowledge - part of their job is, after all, performing a Caesarean section, and many perform hysterectomies as well. A gynecologist with enough experience treating endometriosis cases could easily be better at pelvic-organ surgery than many colo-rectal or urological surgeons.

To a ''very'' limited extent this is justified, as medical doctors in different specialties do all go through basic medical training[[note]]For instance, while you can't expect an eye doctor to conduct a heart or liver transplant, they can be realistically expected to diagnose a heart or epilepsy attack, provide competent first aid, stitch up a wound, assist in childbirth, and so on.[[/note]], and some of the skills of one discipline cross over. A bit.[[note]]In general, the more specific a procedure, the more specialized the doctor has to be (for instance, your average veterinarian is perfectly capable of sewing up a superficial wound in the skin, but won't be able to perform surgery for a shattered ankle -- that latter will need an orthopedic surgeon).[[/note]] Oftentimes a subtrope of ClosestThingWeGot, if the dentist's employed in an emergency. Compare BackAlleyDoctor, who may or may not be a licensed practitioner of medicine, but could still save your life if worst comes to worst. Compare/contrast with SuperDoc when you can actually find a genuine doctor who is more like medicine's answer to the OmnidisciplinaryScientist. See also SurgeonsCanDoAutopsiesIfTheyWant.