The Humming-Doctor

Illustration by Lynda Richardson

Life in the healthcare habitat can at times be quite frenetic. Murphy's law dictates that what can go wrong will go wrong, and as such it is not rare for medical staff to suddenly become inundated with a plethora of tasks in a matter of mere minutes, where they had none a short while ago. Though this is a stressful situation to be in for any species, one in particular is well-suited to persevere in this harsh environment - the humming-doctor.

Explorers will normally encounter humming-doctors in more acute specialties, where sudden and urgent task-onslaughts are most abundant. They can be discerned from other species not only by how well they are coping with the heightened pressure, but also through their movements - explorers will note that to shadow this individual requires a great deal more effort than with other species. Unmatched in the healthcare habitat in terms of speed over a short distance, humming-doctors use this velocity to quickly flit from location to location.

Though impressive, explorers assigned to shadow this species should make the effort to keep pace, or run the risk of losing of their target  altogether, especially in habitats with an abundance of winding corridors and small rooms. An explorer may feel self-conscious lightly jogging behind a humming-doctor gliding along effortlessly at what feels like Mach IV, but they will feel more awkward having to check room by room for their target, or waiting in a hall in the vain hope that the individual doubles back on their zigzagging route around the ward.

The second defining feature of the species is also speed-related, this time to their speed of conversation. The humming-doctor's words per minute rate is just under that of an Eminem rap played at fast forward, with individuals seemingly changing topic from patient A to patient B to doctor A to this explorer that they've got shadowing them to what they're doing for lunch, to patient A's blood results and so on - wait, did they say something about their explorer?

This can be tricky for explorers not well-versed with listening and writing down that which is said to them at a fast pace, so the species will quickly leave them in the dust. This can provoke many an explorer to dare the shame of requesting a humming-doctor to repeat themselves, conceding their unworthiness, not to mention running the risk of appearing as if to not have been listening, and therefore wasting the individual's time. The mood of the species is hugely variable, and this can irk individuals of a more stressed-out  disposition. Sadly, with the accuracy of notes and in-care learning being more important than any one explorer's pride, the explorer has no choice but to accept their fate and take this concession on the chin. Not to worry, the humming-doctor is probably too busy to be overly critical anyway.

Though working with the species requires extra effort, explorers will also learn faster, and receive more opportunities to practice skills. The humming-doctor will generally be happy to offload a portion of their work to  the explorer, meaning they can set about a long list of tasks that would be mundane for the species, such as blood taking and rewriting drug charts, but are vital research for any explorer preparing for their OSCE examinations at the end of the year. Practice is the best way to master such skills and tagging onto a humming-doctor makes chances like these present themselves thick and fast throughout the day.

Time spent with this species, which is becoming more widespread with the workloads across the habitat steadily rising, can be hugely valuable if an explorer can keep pace both physically and mentally. Any daring explorer should do their best to shadow this elusive species, and reap the most lucrative experience found on the ward.